Trade and Commodity Finance

Trade and Commodity Finance

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Regional Capabilities

Global trade is in constant flux: credit moves, markets emerge and sanctions restrict. Expanding trade—in regions like Africa, the CIS and Asia Pacific—introduces both opportunity and risk. Through a deeply collaborative and personalized approach, our lawyers and professionals help you thrive in this integrated and growing industry.

When you engage our team, your vision becomes our shared mission. However you fit into the trade and export landscape—as a lender or syndicate arranger, development bank, export credit agency, trader, commodity off-taker or other market player—we work closely with you so that your business can flourish in any market, emerging or developed.

Wherever in the world your business reaches, we have the jurisdiction-specific knowledge you need to achieve the outcomes you desire. And with our broad experience in other areas such as corporate lending, secured lending, syndicated facilities and club deals, project finance and asset finance, no transaction is too large and no financial technique is too complicated.

Throughout these efforts, our focus always remains on you—your business needs, your business risks, your perspective and your aspirations. From cross-continent commodity transactions to complex pre-finance facilities, you’ll always have trusted, sophisticated and insightful counsel at your side.

Experience

Bank and lenders: Advising as arrangers and lenders on the annual receivables-backed facilities for the purchase of cocoa to Ghana Cocoa Board. The facility is secured against sales contracts between the marketing arm of Ghana Cocoa Board and a number of local and international buyers of cocoa beans. The firm has been advising lenders on this facility for over 15 years. In the last several years this deal was the largest soft commodities financing in Africa and won awards as deal of the year from leading trade publications.
Club of lenders: Advising a club of lenders in relation to an up to $250 million syndicated borrowing base facility to a large international trading company to finance storage and distribution of petroleum products in Latin America. The firm has been frequently advising on various borrowing base financings to commodity traders as this form of financing has been gaining popularity in the past few years.
Česká exportní banka, a.s.: Advising on the restructuring of a €38,5 million loan facility provided to a Russian container glass manufacturer for the purpose of financing supplies of glass production equipment from Czech producer Sklostroj Turnov CZ, s.r.o. The loan was insured by Czech export credit agency (EGAP). The project is important for the development of domestic manufacturing in the Russian glass industry and to move away from imports of value-added products.
European-based IFI : Representing in connection with its €400 million “Turkey Agribusiness SME Financing Facility.”
European-based IFI : Advising a leading Czech bank in a €247 million export credit loan to the Ministry of Transport of Azerbaijan for the financing of highway construction equipment and services related to the reconstruction of the Heydar Aliyev International Airport—Mardakan circle—Bilgah road, backed by a sovereign guarantee.
Komerční banka, a.s: Advising a leading Czech bank in a €247 million export credit loan to the Ministry of Transport of Azerbaijan for the financing of highway construction equipment and services related to the reconstruction of the Heydar Aliyev International Airport – Mardakan circle – Bilgah road, backed by a sovereign guarantee.
Landesbank Baden-Wűrttemberg: Representing a German international bank in respect of an export finance loan to finance the import of agricultural equipment into Azerbaijan.
Landesbank Berlin AG: Advising in connection with two export credit loans of €56.2 million and €7.8 million to the International Bank of Azerbaijan for financing the purchase by Caspian Management Systems LLC of a turnkey wind park and related services from German exporter Mitaki Project GmbH, under Euler Hermes cover. This loan transaction, which is essential to the new Mitaki wind park project, was named Deal of the Year 2009 by Trade Finance magazine.
Oil producer: Advising on a US$150 million pre-finance facility to an oil producer in the Congo.
Leading trade finance bank: Advising on a series oflimited recourse prepayment facilities to finance the purchase of copper concentrate from a Mongolian mining company. At the time when we advised on the first deal, it was the first large scale financing of a metals producer post banking crisis of 2008 and a largest ever financing in Mongolia.
Scandinavian bank: Advising on a US$100 million term loan facility to an African telecommunications group for financing the refurbishment/development of certain networks and telecommunications equipment/facilities in Senegal.

Insights

The UK-US Trade Deal

May 9, 2025

United Kingdom and the USA: On 8 May 2025, the United Kingdom and the United States announced a limited trade agreement, rolling back a small number of the tariffs imposed by President Trump in March and April 2025. Both sides referred to this agreement as an "Economic Prosperity Deal", and negotiations on the long-awaited post-Brexit free trade agreement are expected to continue.

Kalshi v. CFTC: Effect on the CFTC’s Rulemaking and a New Era for Event Contracts

October 1, 2024

While the world anticipates the upcoming US presidential and congressional elections, two parallel proceedings are unfolding that relate directly to the elections: (1) litigation related to political-event contracts regulated by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) (Kalshi v. CFTC); and (2) a CFTC rulemaking on the same subject./p>

Export finance – What is the point of the Isabella clause?

12 July 2023

EMEA: An ECA-supported facility agreement in a buyer credit will usually contain an "Isabella clause". We explain what the clause typically covers and consider how important it is for finance parties to include it.

View all insights for Trade and Commodity Finance