Jan de Laat has joined metals and mineral ores trader Raffemet, leading its new Swiss office after finishing up an almost 17-year stint at Rabobank.

De Laat will take the helm as managing director of Raffemet’s office in Geneva when it opens later this year and will work from Singapore in the meantime. The trader hopes the depth of commodity finance available from Swiss lenders will help fuel its expansion in Africa and India.

“I am very excited to have been offered this opportunity to be part of the Raffemet Group and look forward to doing my best to bring it to the next level of sustainable trading,” de Laat says. “Raffemet is a leader in its respective markets in which it has built a strong reputation as a committed and reliable counterparty.”

De Laat was most recently managing director of trade and commodity finance in Asia for Rabobank, capping a tenure at the bank spanning roles in London, Nairobi and New York.

Over a career beginning in 1985 he has worked for major Dutch lenders including ABN Amro, ING and Fortis Bank. It is not his first time switching to a trader, having been finance director at Glencore for 2.5 years in the mid-1990s.