The professions around the trader

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The trader is only the visible part of a team. The operator, responsible for execution, follows the cargo from loading to discharge, organises the documents, inspections, insurance and payments, and resolves the day-to-day incidents. The operator’s work determines the real margin of a transaction whose theoretical margin the trader has set. The analyst studies markets, stocks, harvests, refining capacities and flows, and feeds the trading decisions. Data scientists, described in Part K, have joined this function. The risk manager measures positions, hedges, credit and liquidity exposures, and holds a power of veto that the houses strengthened after the crises of 2020 and 2022.¹

The financier negotiates the credit lines, manages the treasury and the margin calls, and maintains the relationship with the banks. The compliance officer, whose role Part H describes, examines counterparties, intermediaries and flows, while the lawyer drafts and defends the contracts. These functions, which employ several times more people in Geneva than trading itself, are the ones that give the cluster its stability: they are less mobile than the traders, more closely tied to the centre and to its training institutions. Their quality distinguishes the durable houses from the ephemeral ones. A trading centre is a centre of support functions as much as a centre of traders.

Notes

OECD, Oil commodity trading and addressing the risk of illicit financial flows, DCD(2023)26 (one.oecd.org): trading houses are “highly complex, multi-subsidiary, multi-jurisdictional” organisations, often comprising hundreds of entities linked by complex ownership structures, with the bulk of operational activities concentrated in a small number of entities that combine the trading functions in a “hub” with internal financing and treasury; the report notes that around a third of world trade is conducted from Switzerland, that Swiss companies account for 35 per cent of international oil trading and that companies established in Geneva sell up to 50 per cent of Kazakh oil and 75 per cent of Russian oil; the five largest traders handle 24 million barrels a day. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

Together with my multilingual team, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian and French native speakers, I advise companies and their owners from around the world on the full range of banking, corporate, commercial and tax law matters in Switzerland, including international tax planning, fiduciary services, and legal family office services including immigration & relocation or real estate investments. My practice has a particular focus on clients from growth and frontier markets in Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and I equally advise clients from Europe and North America. Through an affiliated Swiss trust company, we also take care of the incorporation and ongoing administration of their companies and other structures, including accounting, tax returns and corporate secretarial services, and I serve as a professional director where required. With the support of a network of first-class cooperation partners, I also implement solutions worldwide.

My approach is to act as a trusted advisor who works directly with decision-makers, on an equal footing: I start from what you want to achieve and shape every structure, contract and tax decision around your commercial goals and how it improves your after-tax return. As “lawyers who make it happen”, my team and I stay involved until your company is set up, your structure is in place and your transaction has closed, and we remain available for any follow-on work that may be required. You benefit from bespoke solutions and personal attention, and sound, friendly and practical advice. We are not the lowest-cost provider in the market, nor do we intend to be; our aim is to deliver well-founded, proper solutions and excellent value for money.

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The professions around the trader

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?