Our role is to provide financial support for companies involved in international trade in physical goods. Specifically, we insure logistics and transportation of merchandise from producer countries to consumer countries.
Our offer is designed especially for integrated industrial groups, large-scale traders and niche players who operate in the energy, metals and soft commodity businesses. We assist our clients mainly by issuing signature commitments (letters of credit, standby agreements, guarantees, etc.) to guarantee payment for the merchandise delivered to them. These commitments are transaction-based and, in general, secured by the title to the merchandise.

The key to success for our clients is to hedge the risk involved in differences between purchase and sale prices, so we naturally cooperate with Newedge and Crédit Agricole CIB in over-the-counter trading. Forex hedging is also a basic need, and is addressed by Crédit Agricole CIB’s Fixed Income Markets teams. As they grow, our clients call on the Group’s services to meet various needs, such as project finance, aircraft and shipping finance, structured credits and reserve-based lending.

The reasons are historic. It comes down to Switzerland’s legal, economic and political stability and the solidity of its banking system. In the early 1990s, the pace picked up, and Geneva is now home to a considerable number of trading and shipping companies. It is recognised as one of the world’s leading marketplaces for commodity finance.

In 2008, the market gyrated between the best and worst of times. Oil prices shot up from USD 70/bbl to USD 150/bbl in six months and then collapsed at year-end. Then 2009 started off just as cautiously for financial institutions as for our clients. Volumes and prices picked up during the summer and broke above USD 75/bbl in October. Currently, activity and deals are keeping a healthy pace, and we expect business to be fairly steady in late 2009 and beginning of 2010.