Jean-Francois Lambert, a leading trade finance specialist and former head of commodity trade finance at HSBC, has been appointed strategic advisor to Wyelands Capital, the financial services arm of GFG Alliance.

Lambert will support the development of the firm and assist the group to further expand into global commodity trading and industrial and energy business.

GFG Alliance, which is owned by Britain’s wealthy Gupta family, also includes metals and industrial business Liberty House and sister energy and resources company SIMEC.

Wyelands Capital was created following Sanjeev Gupta’s acquisition of Tungsten Bank last year and its subsequent re-launch as an industry-friendly bank for SMEs under the name Wyelands Bank. During its initial phase, Wyelands Capital will deliver structured finance and capital markets expertise to the GFG Alliance with the intention to serve wider markets at a later stage.

Lambert is the former managing director and global head of commodity and structured trade finance for HSBC, a role he held from 2010 to 2015. After leaving the bank, he founded Lambert Commodities, a consultancy that provides bespoke commodity trade and structured finance solutions to producers, traders and investors. He also advises on industry trends, strategic positioning of clients and regulatory issues. Prior to joining HSBC in 2010, Lambert worked at Credit Commercial de France for more than 20 years.

“I am thrilled to be associated with Sanjeev’s vision for the development of an integrated and sustainable global enterprise and am looking forward to contributing to the success of the Wyelands business and the wider GFG Alliance,” Lambert says in a statement.

Gupta, the executive chairman of the GFG Alliance, adds: “JF has a huge reputation in the international structured trade finance sector and his expertise will be a major asset to us in the development of our financial services offer and the worldwide growth of GFG as a whole.”