Mr Victor Smith
Honorary Lecturer
Victor Smith is an Honorary Lecturer at the Centre and course director for the International Project Finance distance learning MBA module for the Centre. He is an independent project development and financing advisor to sponsors and developers carrying out major infrastructure projects in the UK and overseas with direct experience of projects in the UK, the Russian Federation, China, India, Pakistan, the Middle East and West Africa. His consultancy, Foster Wyatt, is an independent project development and financing advisor to sponsors and developers carrying out major infrastructure projects in the UK and overseas providing strategic advice for the development of private sector projects, carrying out appraisals and feasibility studies, developing viable commercial structures, carrying out detailed risk and financial analyses, and negotiating project finance packages and documentation. Earlier he ran project finance teams for leading international banks structuring and negotiating financings for major international infrastructure projects during a 25 year career in the City of London. He provides specialist training courses on project finance for BPP Professional Education, Partnerships UK, DePfa Bank, Cranfield School of Management and other clients.
Teaching
Legal Framework for International Project Finance (Distance Learning)
The module aims to demonstrate how project finance can be used to fund investment in energy, petroleum and mining (and infrastructure) projects. Another objective of the module is to provide an understanding of the issues surrounding project financing in the mentioned sectors.
The emphasis is on providing the student with a practical understanding of the issues and key areas of concern which are revealed by careful examination and analysis of proposed energy, petroleum or mining projects.
The module will also look at how governments might encourage the use of project financing in cases where domestic funding is not sufficient to meet demand.