The Merchant Risk Council, a Seattle, WA-based online retailing trade association focused on promoting security in e-commerce and  e-payments, has opened its first European office, in Madrid, Spain.

“MRC Europe is a natural extension of the successful programs the MRC has offered in North America,” says Nicolas Vedrenne, the group’s managing director for Europe, who will head up the Madrid office. “On one hand, European online merchants face many of the same fraud issues, security risks and payment challenges that U.S. merchants face. On the other hand, there are many nuances between the two continents, and the MRC is adapting to best serve the specific needs of the European merchant community.”

MRC Europe will conduct its first industry conference for Europe Sept. 1-3 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The conference, which will offer 18 sessions delivered by 25 industry experts in online payments security strategies, will be sponsored by payment processing service providers GlobalCollect and Retail Decisions.

“MRC has a proven structure for connecting its members to other members, sharing best practices, creating essential benchmarking research and working together to improve the industry,” says Belgium-based Philippe Depautex, general manager of sales and operations at SonyStyle and an advisor to the MRC board. “I am excited to employ their experience to create successful MRC programs in Europe.”