COMMODITIES
We support clients throughout the full lifecycle of commodity trades, from structuring and drafting key agreements such as trading, sale and purchase, and trade finance agreements, to providing critical advice on logistics, charterparties, and warehouse contracts. We specialize in both English and US law, particularly where the two intersect.
Our team delivers rapid, practical solutions during transportation and storage, minimizing disruptions in the commodities supply chain. In disputes, we handle trade, financing, carriage, and storage matters, resolving issues such as cargo quality and contract breaches through litigation and arbitration.
With significant in-house and private practice experience, we offer commercially focused, sector-specific solutions to commodity producers, trading houses, trade finance banks, and other stakeholders in the commodities market.
SANCTIONS
International political affairs have constant, and significant, bearing on international trade. We advise businesses globally on the reach and impact of various sanctions regimes, particularly those enforced by the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the European Union, and the UK government.
Our deep expertise in sanctions law spans multiple jurisdictions. We regularly provide cross-jurisdictional advice, particularly regarding UK, US, EU, and Russian sanctions, and are able to integrate these into a unified strategy for shipping and trade. With Russian-qualified lawyers and language capabilities, we also offer in-depth research and counsel on corporate connections, ownership, and control within sanctioned regions.
- Advising a large Danish shipowner on the validity of Club’s declinature of cover for voyage involving the purchase or Russian-origin bunkers and import into the US, under the EU and US sanctions
- Assisting a large Swiss trading and chartering entity with the sanctions implications of chartering a vessel for temporary storage of Russian-origin jet fuel, under the EU, UK and US sanctions
- Advising a US-based shipowner and charterer regarding the sanctions consequences of purchasing and importing Russian-origin bunkers, under the US law
- Providing on-going sanctions support to a number of shipowning and trading entities, with particular focus on shipping and oil / fuel sanctions (including a mid-size Belgian shipowner, several large Swiss and UK trading and chartering houses, several large Danish shipowners, purchasers of vessels, and classification societies), under the UK, US and EU sanctions
- Advising a large IGP&I Club on a member’s compliance with a US federal grand jury subpoena related to potential breach of sanctions against Russia
- Assisting a Scandinavian / US shipowner and charterer in a significant number of charterparty termination disputes based on sanctions immediately after the breakout of the Russia-Ukraine war
- Preparing a comprehensive overview of UK, US and EU sectoral prohibitions for a mid-size European shipowner and manager and acting for the same client in several sanctions termination disputes
- Liaising with sanctions regulators to obtain interpretative guidance and licences / exemptions in the US, UK and several EU states (including Denmark, Netherlands, France and Austria)
REGULATORY
From decarbonisation regulation to the imposition of tariffs, the world is changing. We advise clients on regulatory change, how to comply with new regulations and how to protect their contractual positions to ensure they are not over-exposed.
Our team are at the front end of geopolitical and regulatory developments, ensuring our clients have the latest information at their fingertips. We recognise that the regulatory framework governing our sectors is continually evolving, with new laws, regulations, and policy initiatives shaping these industries.
Whether you are dealing with national or international regulatory bodies, our team helps you stay compliant and ahead of the curve.
- Advising a shipping line on its claim for EU ETS allowances (“EUAs”) against a charterer, turning on, among other things, (1) at what point the number of EUAs becomes ‘definitive’ under the CP, and (2) the correct number of EUAs owed.
- Advising a shipowner on its claim for EUAs against a charterer pursuant to the implied indemnity principles, in the absence of an EU ETS clause in the CP.
- Advising a carbon markets financier on a dispute with a major energy trader relating to the invalidity of purchased Upstream Emissions Reductions.
- Advising leading shipping lines and LNG trading houses on the regulatory and contractual implications of FuelEU Maritime.
- Advising on and drafting of a FuelEU pooling agreement.
- Advising on and drafting amendments to an annex of the ISDA Master Agreement relating to ETS allowance trading.
- Drafting template RefuelEU Aviation clauses and EU ETS clauses for air freight forwarding contracts.
- Advising a leading shipping line on the regulatory and contractual implications of the CII Regulations and drafting standard charterparty provisions.
- Drafting template house CII, EEXI and EEDI clauses for major entities across the shipping sector (both from an “Owner” and “Charterer” perspectives).
- Preparing detailed know-how sessions on CII, EEXI and EEDI for LNG trading houses, P&I clubs and shipping companies.
- Advising on and drafting of a long-term Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement (ERPA) with built-in minimum contract quantities and purchase options.
- Advising a major shipping line on ways to restructure its eco delivery terms, which allow certification of CO2 emissions savings generated during ocean carriage provided by that shipping line.
