Commodities moves: Newman retires, ING's new commodities head, and more

Paul Newman, founder of Icap’s energy and commodities arm, retired on June 30 from his role as client management director of interdealer broker Nex Group. Before the move to Nex in 2017, he spent 26 years at the head of Icap’s energy and commodity business as it developed into a multinational energy brokerage. 

The business, which he founded in 1990 with Nex chief executive Michael Spencer, started life as Intercapital Commodity Swaps, becoming Icap Energy in 1999. Over the past three decades the firm was instrumental in introducing over-the-counter trading to sectors that had not used derivatives before. 

The firm’s first trade in 1990 – a jet fuel swap between an airline and an oil trading company – exemplified this pioneering approach. “None of us knew exactly what we were doing, as there were no markets and no templates,” Newman recalled in an Energy Risk interview for a lifetime achievement award in 2014. “After we’d brokered our first trade, we had to design the ticket for it, as there was nothing in existence.” 

In 2015, Newman was appointed chairman of Icap Energy, where he continued until the sale of Icap’s voice broking businesses to Tullett Prebon in December 2016. Icap rebranded to Nex Group in early 2017 and Newman moved over as a director. The group agreed to a takeover by CME Group in March this year. Newman will remain a non-executive director on two of Nex’s associated companies: ship-broking business Howe Robinson Partners, and Volbroker TFS/Icap, a foreign exchange options business. 

New commodities chief role at ING

ING Wholesale Banking has appointed Lynn Ng (pictured), with immediate effect, to the newly created role of global head of commodities and food and agriculture within its industry lending business.  

Ng will be responsible for trade and commodity finance, structured commodities finance, metals and mining and food and agribusiness. She will report to Jan Schuit, head of sectors within ING Wholesale Banking.

Ng joined ING in 2007 and has helped grow the bank’s trade and commodity finance business across Asia. In her new role she will work with her global teams across Europe, Americas and Asia-Pacific, to provide financing solutions to a full spectrum of commodities producers, traders and consumers.

EEX’s new council

Trading participants of power and gas exchange the European Energy Exchange (EEX) have elected a new Exchange Council. The council, which has a three-year term, represents the interests of trading participants in all decisions concerning the development of the exchange. It consists of 24 members across different groups. 

The new members of the utilities and trading companies group are: Michael Bonde, Uniper Global Commodities; Paul Dawson, RWE Supply & Trading; Bernd Dinauer, Engie Global Markets; Jens Göbel, Eni Trading & Shipping; John Grey, EDF Trading; David Poupé, CEZ; Andrea Siri, Edison Trading; Bernhard Walter, Energie Baden-Württemberg; and Leonardo Zannella, Enel Trade.

The group of banks and financial service providers is represented by: Wolf von Bernuth, Energy & More Energiebroker; Jesper Severin Johanson, InCommodities; Michel de Keréver, Hydroption; Roderick Timmer, Cross Options International.

Popovic joins blockchain firm BTL 

Alessa Popovic has joined the London office of blockchain technology firm BTL Group as a senior business development manager and will be responsible for extending BTL’s European energy footprint and increasing adoption of BTL’s Interbit blockchain platform. BTL is currently running OneOffice, the second phase of its European gas trading project along with a group of energy companies and supermajors.

Popovic has been engaged in blockchain projects in energy trading, back-office functions and supply chain since early 2017. She comes from EY, where she was a manager in the oil and gas advisory centre for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. Her advisory work at EY covered risk management, modelling and financial due diligence.