As part of the continued growth of its global rates and foreign exchange (RFX) business, Standard Chartered Bank has established commodity derivatives desks in both Singapore and London.

Singapore, which is an established regional hub for commodity derivatives trading in Asia Pacific, is a natural choice as the site for the bank’s global commodity derivatives desk. Local regulators have been developing this market with legislative reforms, joint ventures with international exchanges like Nymex, and tax incentives for investors.

Standard Chartered’s commodity derivatives desk brings another dimension to the bank’s client offering for corporates and institutions.

Will Shropshire, head of global commodity derivatives at Standard Chartered says: “The bank has a rich history in commodity trading in Asia and India dating back to the 1850s.  Today, across our extensive network, we have clients who are producing, exporting, importing and consuming oil and metals as well as traditional agricultural commodities.  A commodity derivatives capability allows us to help manage price risk for our corporate clients exposed to these volatile markets.

“The current trade dynamics play to our strengths as Asia, Africa and the Middle East have emerged as key commodity markets.

“In addition, over the past few years, investors have seen the portfolio benefits of commodities as an asset class. This is now a multi-billion dollar market and our commodity derivatives capability also allows us to provide commodity price exposure to our investor clients.”

The bank’s commodity derivatives team will cover the full spectrum of precious metals, base metals, energy and soft commodities. This capability allows it to provide commodity solutions as well as a fully integrated service across multiple asset classes including FX, interest rate, debt, credit and commodities.

The product offering will range from vanilla swaps to innovative and cross-market derivatives solutions.

Shropshire adds: “This is an extremely exciting time both for the commodity markets and for our clients. This expertise naturally complements our strong finance capabilities in the rapidly deregulating commodity markets of the region.”

An immediate market presence has been established with the hiring of a team from Commerzbank headed by Jeremy East, who has been appointed head of metals, global commodity derivatives, rates and foreign exchange, reporting to Shropshire. Based in London, East has over 25 years of trading and marketing experience in commodities (metals and energy) and is international advisor to the Shanghai Metals Exchange.

The commodity derivatives teams in Singapore and London are well supported by a client-focused structure where relationship managers are dedicated and attuned to financial institutions and commodity, global and local corporates, irrespective of their needs and size.