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Antwerp Diamond Seminar

27 Mar 2015

The global diamond industry today is facing challenges that are heavily impacting the way business is done and moreover will be done in the future. Never before has the diamond trade’s financing model, the lifeblood of the industry, been under more pressure. While more and more financial institutions have pulled out of the industry, those that remain have taken a cautious stance on providing the much-needed financial oxygen diamond traders crave in virtually every diamond hub. Against this backdrop, many questions have emerged: is the industry on its way to consolidation? How can we attract new financial players to enter the market? Is the industry confronted with overreach in terms of (financing) regulation? Are we in the midst of a transformation that will radically change the industry’s financial models and, to a larger extent, how business is being done ?

The Antwerp Diamond Seminar is an exclusive event that aims to bring together key actors from the diamond industry, including miners, traders, manufacturers and retailers to address those issues that will determine the future of the industry from a financial perspective.

Featuring Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, former President of the European Council, as keynote speaker, as well as a panel discussion between some of the industry’s most respected specialists, including: Mr. Kishore Lall, Managing Director and Global Head of Diamonds & Jewelry at Standard Chartered Bank, London; Mr. Des Kilalea, Capital Markets Equity Research Analyst at RBC Capital Markets and longtime diamond industry analyst and Mrs. Sabine Smets, Head Belgium - Diamond & Jewellery Clients at ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

The panel discussion will be moderated by Anish Aggarwal, diamond strategy analyst at Gemdax.

  • Keynote speaker, Mr. Herman Van Rompuy was elected the first full-time President of the European Council in November 2009, taking office when the Lisbon Treaty came into force on 1 December 2009. In 2012, he was re-elected for a second term starting on 1 June 2012 until 30 November 2014. At the time of his first election, Van Rompuy was Prime Minister of Belgium. Prior to that he had served in Belgium as Speaker of the House of Representatives and held various government positions. He started his professional career as economist at the National Bank of Belgium.
  • Mr. Kishore Lall serves as Managing Director and Global Head of Diamonds & Jewelry at Standard Chartered Bank, London.
  • Mr. Des Kilalea serves as Capital Markets Equity Research Analyst at RBC Capital Markets and is a longtime diamond industry analyst.
  • Mrs. Sabine Smets is Head Belgium - Diamond & Jewellery Clients at ABN AMRO Bank N.V.