Commodities trading law is fast emerging as a specialist practice area. It is always evolving, rapid and often complex. Anecdotal evidence from industry sources suggests a shortage of specialist commodities trading lawyers in Singapore, a major international trading hub. This course aims to provide commodities professionals (legal, credit, risk, compliance, traders and operations) with the foundation to develop a deeper understanding in this area.
This foundational course – which comprises 5 sessions – aims to provide commodities trading professionals with an overview of the body of law making up the law of commodities trading, a sound foundation for deeper study of the subject, and a deeper appreciation of the commercial and practical issues which a typical commodities trader is confronted with. In light of the importance of paper trading in physical commodities trading, there will also be a session on derivatives and their role in commodities trading. The course will be practical and industry focused. In particular, the instructors will share real life case studies and experience to illustrate the practical application of commodities trading law. This course is essential for legal practitioners and commodities professional interested in the practice of commodities trading law.
This course will be led by commodities trading specialist lawyers - Ian Teo (Partner, Helmsman LLC, Shipping & International Trade), Dr Gary Low (SMU School of Law) and Joanna Chan (Senior Vice President, Group Legal & Compliance, DBS). The course will be conducted through seminars and panel discussions. They have carefully curated a team of industry experts and legal counsel to share their expertise and to sit on panel discussions on various issues. There will be tea receptions at the end of Sessions 2, 4 and 5. Participants will have the opportunity of interacting with the instructors, industry experts and legal counsel during these tea receptions.
The 5 sessions comprise of:
Session 1: Big Picture – What is Commodities Trading Law provides a broad overview of various strands of law making up the corpus of commodities trading law, including general contract law, international sale of goods (Incoterms, quality and quantity disputes), trade finance, insurance, shipping, and sanctions. Participants will obtain a good overview and understanding of commodities trading and how the various strands of the law interact with each other in practice and in a typical commodity trading contract. The instructors will also introduce various key concepts in a commodity trading contract and typical issues in a practical context and illustrated with real life examples. Session 1 is intended to be the foundational class for the topics dealt with in Sessions 2 to Session 5. Participants are strongly encouraged to attend Session 1 before progressing to the other sessions in the course.
Session 2: Backbone of a Commodity Trading Contract – Formation, Description, Warranties and Incoterms begins the introduction to the “backbone” of a commodities trading contract – general contract law and the law of international sales. The objective of this session is to familiarise participants with key clauses in a typical trading contract and drafting issues which may arise in relation to these terms. This session will discuss – in a practical context – the formation of a typical commodities trading contract (sale confirmation, sale recap), issues of “battle of the forms”, structure of a typical commodity trading contract, description/specifications of the commodity, typical warranties on description, title and quality, exclusion of statutory terms and the Convention on International Sale of Goods, passage of title and risk, and INCOTERMS. There will be a 30 minutes panel discussion involving industry experts and legal counsel, followed by a tea reception and interaction between the participants, instructors, and panel industry experts and legal counsel. The Panellists will include Mr Reza Ispahani, Regional Counsel, APAC, Trafigura Pte Ltd, and Ms Mi Nie Ho, General Manager (Credit Risk), Mitsubishi RtM International.
Session 3: Quality, Quality, Rejection and Termination continues the discussion on key clauses in a commodity trading contract. This session focuses on quality and quantity issues, rejection and acceptance of goods, force majeure, and termination rights. The instructors will also discuss in the practical context, determination of quality and quantity, final and binding analysis, force majeure and limitation of liability. The objective of this session is to highlight typical legal, commercial and practical issues in relation to these clauses, and will provide illustrations with reference to real-life cases.
Session 4: Payment, Security and Shipping is an foundational seminar on payment and shipping issues in a commodity trading contract. The instructors will examine payment clauses (including Open Account, Letter of Credit, Prepayment, etc) and legal and practical considerations on security for sellers, and how to mitigate credit risks with contractual devices, effectiveness of retention of title clauses, material advance change clauses (financial condition). The participants will also be introduced to typical shipping issues relating to charterparty, shipment periods/laycan, arrival of ships, and demurrage. There will be a 30 minutes panel discussion involving industry experts and legal counsel, followed by a tea reception and interaction between the participants, instructors, and panel industry experts and legal counsel. The Panellists will include Mr Gerald Tham, Head of Legal & Compliance, JERA Global Markets Pte Ltd, Ms Joanna Chan, SVP, Group Legal & Compliance, DBS and Ms Cindy Toh, Managing Director, Head of Trade & Commodity Finance, South Asia, ING Bank.
Session 5: Commodity Trading Contract – Damages and Derivatives: The first part of session 5 concludes the series of introductory seminars on the key clauses in a typical commodity trading contract. In this session, participants are introduced to legal and practical issues relating to damages in the context of a commodity trading contract. It discusses remedies for buyers and sellers when the other party is in breach, claim for paper/hedging losses and market price difference. Paper trading/derivatives are a crucial component and complementary to physical trading. The second part of the session introduces the participants to derivatives in the context of commodities trading law. The participants will be introduced to derivatives and its role in commodities trading, derivatives documentation (ISDA), future and standardised contracts. There will be a tea reception and interaction between the participants, instructors, and panel industry experts and legal counsel.
SPEAKER PROFILES
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