Dec 3 (Reuters) – Latin America’s largest independent investment bank, Grupo BTG Pactual SA has applied for a licence to run commodity trading and warehousing units in the United States as it beefs up its physical commodity trading business, state filings show.
BTG Pactual Commodities Warehousing (US) LLC applied to run a registered commodities warehousing business, a filing to Michigan’s commercial licensing bureau, dated Nov. 26 showed.
The filing followed an application on Oct. 16 by BTG Pactual Commodities (US) LLC, for the trading of physical and financial commodities as well as registered warehousing.
Under former Noble Group chief executive Ricardo Leiman, BTG has already this year hired more than a dozen high-profile commodities traders in everything from energy to grains across New York, London and Geneva as it extends a bold push into commodities markets.
Shon Loth, a metals warehousing export, also formerly with Noble, joined in August in another sign of the bank’s ambitions to build into physical commodities storage.
It was also considering a bid for JPMorgan Chase & Co’s physical commodities unit, a source said in October.
JPMorgan launched the sale of the business, which includes its crude oil, natural gas and base metals trading operations, in July.
Commodities sales and trading operations are beginning to have an impact on earnings, Chief Financial Officer Marcelo Kalim said on Nov. 6 in a conference call to discuss third quarter results.
He also noted that the bank could make acquisitions to grow the commodities shop. The bank is headquartered in Sao Paulo and controlled by billionaire financier André Esteves.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/12/03/commodities-warehousing-idINL5N0JI0S820131203
