Madrid 2015

Daniel Capretti is a Canadian citizen born in 1966 with an American degree in Finance and International Management (Georgetown University) and an Italian law degree (University of Ferrara). Following an initial career with a law firm in Venice and as a member of the in-house legal office of the Port Authority of Venice, Daniel became involved in insurance on the risk management / claims’ side and is currently the managing director of two Van Ameyde Group companies in Switzerland and Slovenia.

Sophie Forster graduated from Northumbria University in 2010 having completed a BSC in Criminology and from here began her insurance career in Canada before retunring to the UK. She currently works as Claims broker at Price Forbes and Partners handling cargo and specie claims.

Sophie has a real interest in crime and because of her dealings within the specie market felt that she wanted to explore the topic of blood diamonds, a topic that has dominated the diamond industry in recent years.

Mr Kerry Gillard is a British national and a former Scotland Yard detective who specialised in the investigation of international financial crime and fraud. Mr Gillard is now the Managing Director of Universal Risk Solutions Inc (URS), and since 1994 he has been engaged in risk management projects and loss investigations on behalf of the insurance industry on a global basis.

In recent years URS has been particularly engaged in the investigation and adjustment of the physical and electronic ATM losses that have been significantly affecting the global banking industry.

Andy Hayman is a former Chief Constable of police and retired as Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations at New Scotland Yard, London. He was responsible for protecting the Royal Family, Prime Minister and visiting Diplomats. He led the investigation into 7/7 London bombings and all terrorist investigations between 2005 and 2008.

Valarie Jonas is a member of Cozen O’Conner, in the firm’s San Francisco office. She focuses her practice in the areas of first- and third-party insurance coverage, bad faith and complex commercial litigation in matters across the Western United States. Valarie has over 25 years’ experience in fine art, specie, jewelers block, cargo, cash in transit, and wine claims. She is “AV Preeminent” rated by Martindale-Hubbell and was elected as a fellow of the American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel in 2014.

Valarie has tried numerous jury and bench trials before state and federal courts and is frequently asked to speak before her peers and clients on a wide variety of insurance and litigation issues.

Mark Lowers is the President of Lowers & Associates, a firm specializing in risk mitigation, international risk management, and loss prevention services that provides services to insurance companies, banks, the cash-in-transit industry, and other financial institutions. He is a certified fraud examiner and has over 30 years of experience administering risk management functions including risk assessments, risk mitigation techniques, audits, and compliance programs.

Mark is actively involved in the CIT Industry with the National Armored Car Association and currently serves as President and on the Board of Directors of the new Secure Cash & Transit Association known as the SCTA.

Gareth Maddock graduated from Lancaster University in 2011 having completed his Master’s degree in Mathematics and Statistics. He is currently a Marine Claims Adjuster at QBE, having previously worked in the same role at Xchanging and as an Underwriting Analyst at XL Catlin.

At IFASIC 2014, Gareth delivered an introductory presentation to Bitcoin and digital currencies due to his ongoing interest in the technology and identification of Bitcoin as an emerging risk. Gareth will be providing an update summarising the significant developments which have taken place in the past year.

Christopher A. Marinello is one of the world’s leading practitioners of art recovery, dispute resolution and art market due diligence. He is the CEO of Art Recovery Group, based in London, which owns and operates the ArtClaim Database of stolen, missing and otherwise claimed works of art.

Peter Meili brings his personal passion as a contemporary art collector and his 20 years of insurance experience to his role as a senior underwriter on the XL Catlin Fine Art and Specie team.

Peter is a senior underwriter in fine art and an associate in risk management at XL Catlin, serving the German-speaking markets. He began his career in the insurance industry as a marine underwriter and marine claims handler. Over time he began to work with fine art collectors, museums and galleries. Due to his experience as a broker and underwriter with various companies, Peter has a deep understanding of the fine art insurance market. He has also gained extensive knowledge about packing, shipping and conservational issues through the numerous national and international exhibitions he’s insured.

Based in Switzerland, Peter speaks German, English and French.

Director – Fine Art and Specie. H. W. Wood Limited and a member of the HW International Group

With over 14 years experience in this niche, Alexandra has worked with some of the most prestigious galleries, auction houses and private collections over her career. In recent years, her specialism has turned to General Specie, in particular the collectibles market, in which HWI is a leader and has clients from over 40 countries.

Carolyn Riccardelli is a conservator in the Department of Objects Conservation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art where she is responsible for structural issues related to large-scale objects. From 2005-2014 her primary project was Tullio Lombardo’s Adam; she was the principal member of team of conservators and scientists conducting research on adhesives and pinning materials, as well as developing innovative methods for reassembling the damaged sculpture.

She is an active member of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC), and is currently serving on the AIC Board of Directors. Carolyn holds a B.A. in anthropology from Newcomb College, Tulane University and an M.A. from the Art Conservation Program at Buffalo State College.

Peter Rossi is a Senior Counsel in Clyde & Co’s New York office. His practice focuses on insurance coverage in fine art, specie and cargo matters. He advises insurers in connection with multi-jurisdictional disputes in both the first party and third party context, including claim investigations, policy interpretation and bad faith.

Karen Sanig is the founder of Art Law at Mishcon de Reya London, where she is a partner. She created the Art Law practice in 1995. She is one of the UK’s most preeminent Art Lawyers. She is a Leading individual in the Legal 500 and top ranked lawyer in Chambers UK and globally.

Her international client base includes leading artists, dealers, galleries , collectors , institutions , auction houses and many more in this specialised field. She is frequently quoted in the media on the wide ranging issues of art related matters and is often invited to speak at international conferences on Art Law.

Karen is a fluent French speaker, having studied and worked in France. She has extensive experience advising clients on French Art law. She sits on the board of the Hermitage Foundation Israel.

Arnold Schwisberg is a lawyer who specializes in sophisticated commercial litigation. Including judicial review s of jurisdictional excesses of regulatory agencies and tribunals. He has appeared at all levels of the Ontario Courts, at the Federal Court’s Trial and Appeal Divisions and in the Supreme Court of Canada.

In particular, he is Canada’s top liquor-regulatory lawyer and its pre-eminent jewellery, fine art, cash-in-transit and specie insurance defence litigator.

Arnold has recently been lead counsel in R v. Comeau, a Canadian constitutional challenge case about liquor laws, which made front-page news domestically and internationally in August 2015

David Summers is a Chartered Loss Adjuster. After 10 years in the UK as a general adjuster, he now works in Dubai as Country Manager of Cunningham Lindsey in the United Arab Emirates, where he has lived with his family for the past 18 years. He is a member of their Major & Complex Loss team, and handles jewellers block, specie and fine art claims across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, where he also undertakes risk surveys.

Victor Wiener served as executive director of the Appraisers Association of America for 21 years and is currently an appraiser in private practice and founder of the firm Victor Wiener Associates, LLC

He has worked for several international auction houses in London and New York, including Sotheby’s and at Christie’s in Rome, where he was Director of the fine arts department. A trained art historian, Mr. Wiener has worked at several museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He has published extensively and is co-editor and a principal contributor to “All About Appraising”, The Definitive Appraisers Handbook. For over twenty years he has been an adjunct assistant professor on the faculty of New York University’s Appraisal Studies Program. He has served as an expert witness in several high profile art cases including matters concerning the estates of Andy Warhol and Louise Nevelson.

A certified instructor of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice of the Appraisal Foundation in Washington, D.C., Mr. Wiener has co-authored several standards widely used by the profession, including those of the Appraisers Association of America and the appraisal paper issued by the Inland Marine Underwriters Association for insurance purposes. His testimony as an expert witness for the Government of Canada was influential in establishing case law for donations to charitable institutions in Canada. his practice includes expert witness testimony for the settlement of many art related disputes including high profile insurance claims such as the prominent litigation concerning damage to a picasso painting owned by steve wynn which at the time was the most expensive painting ever to be valued.

His company, Victor Wiener Associates, LLC consists of numerous valuation experts who deal with most categories of art valuation and art market consultation. Recently he and his firm have appraised the entire collection of the the Detroit Institute of Art for bankruptcy purposes – the highest art valuation case ever to be heard by any court.