Standard Chartered Bank has opened an office in Geneva, Switzerland, in response to the growth of the commodity corporates business and a 20% increase in the number of clients in the region.

 

The double digit growth of the bank’s commodity corporates business is aligned to the hotbed of trade activity originating from natural resource commodities in Africa, China, India, and the Middle East – Standard Chartered’s core markets.

 

Maureen DeRooij, global head of commodity corporates at Standard Chartered says: “Closer proximity to our clients in Geneva will allow us to deepen our relationships and provide them with greater accessibility to the markets they want to do business in. The majority of commodities originate from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. These are also the largest destination markets for commodities. Our long history in financing production, shipping and trading of natural resources will assist our clients with expertise and customised product solutions.”

 

Adds Russ Parry, director, commodity traders, Standard Chartered in Geneva: “Geneva has become the largest global financing centre for the commodity trading industry. We can meet the growing demands of the commodity trader as they add value by moving up and down the supply chain. In addition to the standard cash, trade, rates and FX, liquidity services, we also offer structured inventory products, which will be attractive to global traders who often have large inventories.”

 

The Geneva office consists of a team of specialists with extensive local and global knowledge to serve the growing number of commodity corporates clients in Switzerland.
Standard Chartered’s commodity corporates business features four distinct industry segments. Physical commodities include energy, metals and mining and agriculture segments.
The buyers and traders segment is serviced by more than 100 commodity traders world wide. The bank offers commodity traders the entire suite of tools and expert advice to meet their growing needs – trade, lending, cash, RFX, commodity derivatives, oil import facility, structured trade finance, upstream project finance and structured inventory products.