Market News RBS Sempra Founders’ Freepoint Commodities to Start Europe Trade February |
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Freepoint Commodities LLC will start trading European energy contracts in London from February after hiring staff from <a The company, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, hired Michael Walter to lead its European natural gas and power trading as well as global coal and emissions, it said today. ?€œWe currently have five traders in London,?€ said David Messer, Freepoint's chief executive officer and a founder of RBS Sempra Commodities LLP who left the joint venture in 2009 and set up Freepoint last February. ?€œWe do not have a specific target headcount, but we expect to make more hires.?€ Closely held Freepoint is signing agreements with brokers and counterparties to buy and sell commodities including power and gas in the region?€™s over-the-counter market, according to two people with knowledge of the plans who declined to be identified because the information isn?€™t public. Banks are losing staff in commodities at a faster pace than in fixed income and currencies because of tightening regulations on trading, Coalition Development Ltd., a London-based consultant, said last month. ?€œOne of the reasons people are finding Freepoint attractive is that they are a different type of organization than the banks,?€ said Peter Henry, principal consultant and head of front office search at Commodity Search Partners in New York. ?€œPeople think they will be somewhat protected from the regulatory change.?€ Volcker RuleJPMorgan is among companies that shut units trading its own money in commodities before the implementation of the Volcker rule in 2012 that will limit such practices. The legislation, named after former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, was included in the Dodd-Frank Act to limit banks taking risks with their own capital. Freepoint, which last month said it signed a $500 million credit facility with banks led by BNP Paribas SA to support its trading activities, already buys and sells North American natural gas and power as well as global oil and has about 100 employees, according to its website. The loan will help the company to diversify across commodity classes and geographic regions, Chief Executive Officer Messer said in a Nov. 2 statement. The European unit will focus initially on gas, power, emissions, and coal with freight and liquefied natural gas following, he said today. $300 Million CapitalFreepoint?€™s other founders are Frank Gallipoli, former president of RBS Sempra, and Robert Feilbogen, the former chief operating officer. The founders, employees and private equity funds managed by Stone Point Capital LLC have provided committed equity capital for the company of more than $300 million. Messer left RBS Sempra in 2009 after 26 years with the firm and its predecessors, followed by Gallipoli and Feilbogen. JPMorgan last year bought assets from RBS Sempra, a venture between Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Sempra Energy (SRE), including its global oil, global metals and European power and gas units, for $1.6 billion. Walter worked at JPMorgan from July 1 last year through Sept. 30, 2011, according to the Financial Services Authority?€™s website. He was previously registered as an employee with RBS Sempra and Royal Bank of Scotland from 2002. To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Lars Paulsson in London at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Authors: Commodities - Yahoo! News Search Results |
