Complidata's Gary Collyer receives the inaugural ICC Wilbert Ward Trade Finance Excellence Award
The award recognises his outstanding contribution to the development and interpretation of ICC rules and standards, including chairing the drafting of UCP 600
London, 9 November 2026. Gary Collyer, Head of TradeSpeed at Complidata and ICC Technical Editor, has received the inaugural ICC Wilbert Ward Trade Finance Excellence Award.
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) presented the award at the ICC Global Banking Commission Meeting in London, in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to the development and interpretation of ICC rules and standards".
Gary chaired the ICC drafting groups for UCP 600 and ISBP 745, and later co-chaired the work on eUCP, eURC, and ISBP 821. The UCP 600, in force since 1 July 2007, has now been in operation longer than any previous version of the rules, and reaches 20 years in July 2027.
Gary began his banking career in 1973 at Midland Bank in London and in due course went on to manage HSBC's UK letter of credit department. He later held global trade product roles at Citibank and ABN AMRO before founding Collyer Consulting. Since 2022 he has worked with Complidata, where he is Head of TradeSpeed.
Ben Arber, CEO of Complidata, said: "Gary has dedicated his career to making the rules of trade finance clearer for everyone who uses them. He has brought passion and patience to the deep expertise and credibility he gained through natural intellect and hard work. His lifetime's dedication to excellence in documentary trade finance is an example for everyone in the industry. Being the inaugural recipient of an award in Wilbert Ward's name is fitting recognition, and everyone at Complidata is proud of him."
Gary Collyer said: "I am grateful to the ICC and the Banking Commission for this honour. Rules such as the UCP have always been the work of many people, from the members of the Drafting and Consulting Groups to the national committees and bank practitioners who apply them every day, and I share this recognition with all of them."
David Meynell, founder of TradeLC Advisory, also received the award for his contributions.
About the award
The ICC Wilbert Ward Trade Finance Excellence Award marks 100 years since Wilbert Ward of National City Bank of New York, as the US representative, proposed that the ICC pursue uniform international practice for commercial credits. His proposal began the process that produced the first Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits in 1933.
About Complidata
Founded in 2018 in Brussels on deep AI and industry expertise, Complidata builds TradeSpeed, an AI-powered trade finance operations platform trusted by major banks and exporters globally. Its founders and executive team have decades of trade finance and financial crime experience. Complidata has offices in Belgium, the UK, and the United States.
Media contact
Ezequiel Djeredjian, Marketing Lead, via our contact page.
