Law firm Hill Dickinson has appointed Devottam Sengupta as a partner in its marine and trade group, based in Singapore.

Sengupta specialises in trade, receivables and commodities finance and has worked in-house at major commodities traders.

Most recently he was legal director in Singapore for Greensill Capital, which collapsed in March this year, where his role included advising on the company’s potential expansion into new markets in Asia.

Between 2015 and 2020 Sengupta was in-house counsel for the Louis Dreyfus Company, ultimately rising to co-head of the trading house’s global markets and financing legal team, also in Singapore. Before that, he spent just over three years at Cargill as legal counsel for trade and structured finance, South Asia and the Middle East.

“I’m thrilled to be joining a firm as storied as Hill Dickinson in the commodities and trade space,” Sengupta says. “Having worked with and benefited from Hill Dickinson’s expertise when in-house, I feel honoured to now be joining the team. I look forward to working with my colleagues across the world in delivering best-in-class trade and commodities financing advice to our clients.”

Andrew Lee, who heads Hill Dickinson’s Singapore office, says Sengupta’s arrival complements the hiring in July of commodities dispute specialist Iain Sharp as partner.

“Dev’s addition to our team represents another significant investment for Hill Dickinson in the growing Singapore commodities market,” Lee says.

“Both Dev and Iain are genuine industry specialists in their fields with a strong understanding of the commercial realities of their sector. Dev’s arrival further strengthens our in-house expertise for our clients around the globe and in particular in this region.”