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Fabrizio Marafini’s death is a
great loss to Italian and European leasing, writes Antonio
Fabrizio.
Fabrizio Marafini has been
described by those who knew him as a man with a real passion for
the leasing profession.
The general director of Assilea,
the Italian leasing association, had made leasing an important part
of his life despite university studies and a career which initially
didn’t seem intended for leasing at all.
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By GlobalDataHe graduated at the age of 23 in
chemical engineering. His first significant work experience was
with a large steel group, Finisder, owned by Italian public
conglomerate IRI.
But an interest for the financial
services industry emerged soon, and he went to cover a number of
roles within banking groups IMI and BNL.
He then made his way into the
financial industry working in long term credit and merchant
banking.
Marafini entered leasing in 1988
for a subsidiary of IMI Group, Spei Leasing – quickly reaching the
most senior positions for the company. These included business
development and operational roles, as well as risk and commercial
director positions.
He left Spei Leasing in 1996 to
join Assilea. One year later, Marafini had already obtained the top
job at the association and has since become a point of reference
for the Italian leasing industry.
He was well known at home but also
abroad, and has been a speaker at international leasing events,
including the Leasing Life conference in Brussels in
2008.
In 2001, Marafini was also
appointed as managing director for Assilea Servizi, a company owned
by Assilea and offering supplementary services to Assilea members
in terms of events, training and market research.
Deep knowledge
He had a deep knowledge of
accounting standard-related issues. He held a supervisory role
within Organismo Italiano di Contabilita’ (OIC), the Italian body
responsible for adopting international accounting principles in the
Italian legislation.
It was with OIC that Marafini
developed his deep knowledge of Iease accounting and IAS 17.
At the helm of Assilea for almost
15 years, he turned the association into a strong lobbying body
which has become an interlocutor for Italian authorities in matters
related to taxation and SME financing.
He built strong relationships with
major institutions at Italian and European level, and pushed up the
agenda of major leasing firms.
Marafini died on 23 January aged 56 due to complications from a
serious illness. He is survived by a wife and two children.
