Commodities firm, Gunvor Group Ltd., is reportedly getting out of trading precious metals less than a year after they dedicated their business to purchasing gold.
According to individuals with knowledge of the subject, two traders out of Geneva and Singapore are leaving the company. Seth Pietras, the spokesman for Gunvor Group in the Swiss city, declined to comment given the matter wasn’t a public decision.
Gunvor is the fifth-largest oil trader in the world and one of the few large commodity firms that deal in precious metals. Their move into gold was part of their non-oil business expansion that included iron ore, industrial metals and natural gas. Their co-founder and former major shareholder was recently sanctioned by the U.S. due to ties with Vladimir Putin.
Francois Beuzelin, who was hired in 2012 as the head of metals in Geneva, and Cedric Chanu, who in January started working in Singapore as a precious-metals trader, were two of the departures from the company. Both have declined to comment via phone or email on the subject. Gunvor head executives decided to exit the precious metals trading business after running into difficulties finding gold supplies where the origin could be documented.
Flags were beginning to rise once Gunvor began trading physical gold, something neither Glencore Plc (GLEN), the biggest metals trader, nor Trafigura Beheer, the second largest, partake in. Gunvor is still trading in base metals such as copper and aluminum, along with bulk commodities such as coal and iron ore. Cofounder Gennady Timchenko was sanctioned by U.S. in March due to his connections with Vladimir Putin, and after their expansion into other commodities and Asia to diversify beyond trading crude oil with Russia. Now less than 4 percent of the firm’s trading volume is Russian crude oil business.
Timchenko sold his 44 percent interest in the company to fellow cofounder Torbjorn Tornqvist the day before he was sanctioned. The U.S. Treasury Department has investigated Putin and his investments in Gunvor. Putin’s access to the company’s funds is also in question.
