LEGAL ISSUES IN COMMODITIES
the preparedness of a multi- commodity trading organisation in a more tightly regulated world. This means considering those key items when evaluating existing practice.
Rapid Transformation Over the last decade, physical commodities
trading has
entered a new age of scale and sophistication. This means that legal firms specialising in these markets are having to extend their reach across commodity markets and territories. Specialisation has become increasingly important as firms build dedicated teams and global alliances. For example, in contrast to
other law firms with commodities practices, international law firm Clyde & Co have developed their trading and commodity practice organically from their marine and insurance background. “As our lawyers are dedicated
to the commodity sector regardless of legal discipline they understand the trading business and the need for quick, focused advice in volatile and often unpredictable markets,” according to Clyde & Co. And like others,
they are extending
their reach – opening six offices in the past year, with Beijing, Perth and Libya of particular relevance to the commodity markets. This also included a major investment in their Singapore office where they came “on-shore” launching a joint venture last August with Clasis LLC [Clyde & Co Clasis Singapore]. Consistently ranked among the top law firms for commodities, Watson, Farley & Williams (WFW) clients benefit from their range of work and vast experience covering all of the phases in the commodities sector continuum – “as commodities are produced, processed, transported, traded by a trading company and eventually sold to an end user.” Just as consolidation has taken hold in the commodity trading industry as well as sectors like mining, it is also on the agenda for many legal firms looking to build size, depth and reach in their operations. Norton Rose’s merger with the US firm Fulbright & Jaworski; Clyde & Co merging with
Barlow Lyde & Gilbert; and Hill Dickinson’s merger with Middleton Potts are some examples. “This enhanced, comprehensive and expanding
international reach ensures we can deal with complex
jurisdictional questions, cross-border
issues and disputes and allows us to offer our clients an integrated full-service representation in all the main commodities trading hubs ... always providing a specialist commodities focussed service,” explain Cylde & Co.
... physical commodities trading has entered a new age of scale and sophistication
Traditionally, the success of commodity
merchandisers and traders has depended on their superior knowledge of prices at different locations, combined with their logistics capacity to move goods at the right time to the best markets. The
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