Bridging the Gap: Credit & Market Risk in Commodity Transactions

Flagship Event

In today’s world, commodity markets are increasingly shaped by price volatility, geopolitical risk, regulatory pressure, and liquidity constraints. While traders and banks face similar underlying risks, they manage them through fundamentally different lenses—yet their exposure is deeply intertwined.

This event brings together senior risk professionals from both sides to challenge assumptions, share real-world experiences, and explore how risk is truly managed in practice.

Over the past few years, commodity markets and their financing structures have been shaped by a series of significant shocks:

• Extreme price volatility across energy, metals, and agricultural markets
• Geopolitical tensions disrupting trade flows and creating fragmentation
• Liquidity stress episodes, including sharp increases in margin calls
• Counterparty stress and defaults, raising concerns about contagion
• Increasing focus on collateral management, transparency, and funding resilience

Key Event Topics

1. Credit Risk: The Cornerstone Under Pressure

• How banks assess trading counterparties today
• Impact of market volatility and geopolitical tensions on credit frameworks
• Challenges traders face in evaluating counterparty risk
• Transparency gaps between banks and trading firms
• Are traditional indicators creating a false sense of security?
• Do current stress tests reflect real extreme scenarios?

Interactive Discussion:

• Is there a mismatch between measured credit risk and experienced risk in real time?

2. Market Risk: Opportunity vs Threats

• How traders define acceptable risk in volatile markets
• Risk management tools: strengths and limitations
• Setting limits when volatility drives both profit and danger
• Bank perspectives on market risk thresholds

Interactive Discussion:

• When does market risk become credit risk?
• Case insights: MTM shocks leading to counterparty stress
• Who reacts faster in crises—banks or traders?

If you could improve one thing in how banks and traders understand each other’s risks—what would it be?

Panel Discussions with:

• Commodity Trading Risk Managers
• Trade Finance & Credit Risk Professionals from Banks

Cross-sector debates to uncover real-world gaps and alignment opportunities

Why Attend?

• Gain frontline insights from experienced risk practitioners in both commodity trading companies and banks into how the current environment transforms market and risk practices
• Understand how risk frameworks, risk appetites and decision-making horizons differ—and where they fail
• Get practical perspectives on limits, collateral, margining, and stress testing – and their limits
• Explore practical improvements in bank–trader shared risk language, collaboration and coordination
• Network with professionals in commodity trading and trade finance

Join the conversation shaping the future of credit and market risk management in global commodity markets.

Speakers

• Goran Karimzadeh, Director at UBS
  Goran Karimzadeh is a senior credit risk professional with more than 15 years of experience in banking, credit risk, audit and commodity finance across leading financial institutions in Switzerland. He is currently Director at UBS, after previously holding senior positions at Credit Suisse, BCGE and KPMG. He holds an Executive MBA in International Management, a Master’s degree in Commodity Finance and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Geneva.
• Vijay Chakravarthy, Chief Risk Officer (CRO) at Louis Dreyfus 
  Vijay Chakravarthy has been the Chief Risk Officer for Louis Dreyfus Company since 2023, when he joined the Group after 20 years working in various credit, market, liquidity and operational management positions in a range of global commodities trading, multi-asset brokerage and capital market environments at ED&F Man, Standard Chartered, Barclays and Deutsche Bank. He holds an Engineering degree from NIT Tiruchirappalli and a Finance MBA from London Business School.
• Nicola Jarvis, Senior Vice President at Cargill 
  Nicola Jarvis is Cargill’s Senior Vice President, Risk Management. With nearly three decades at Cargill, she has held leadership roles across finance, operations, and risk in global markets, including energy and agricultural supply chains. She is recognized for combining strategic perspective, commercial judgement, and disciplined execution to strengthen risk management and business performance, and for leading high-impact global teams through an evolving risk landscape. She holds a BSc in Mathematics and Geography from the University of Sheffield and is a qualified Chartered Global Management Accountant.

Moderator

• Josiane Tistounet, Board Member at Women’s international shipping and trading association Switzerland ( WISTA Switzerland)
  A seasoned finance executive with over 30 years of experience and deep expertise in trade finance, corporate banking, corporate governance, and risk management. She has held several commercial and functional leadership positions across organizations such as BNP and BCGE and is a member of several boards. She is recognized for her strategic vision, leadership in international finance, and ability to lead and unite multicultural and multidisciplinary teams. Her career reflects a strong commitment to advancing both corporate and non-profit initiatives with purpose and impact.

Agenda

17:45  Doors open – Name Tag Collection
18:00 Welcome to the event
18:05 Short presentation and introduction of the event
18:15  Round table discussion
19:15  Q&A
19:45  Networking Drinks

Commodity Trading Chapter

The Swiss Risk Association has the pleasure to announce the official launch of its new Romandie Chapter “Commodity Trading”.

This launch represents an important milestone for the SRA and offers a unique opportunity to further strengthen and expand our community. In particular, the creation of this Chapter should be seen as a key platform to actively boost membership from the commodity trading community, and to further anchor this important field within the SRA network.

The main goals of the “Commodity Trading” Chapter are to provide a dedicated forum for risk professionals to exchange ideas, best practices, and practical experience related to commodity trading activities. The Chapter addresses the broad range of financial, operational, and geopolitical risks affecting the trading of physical commodities—such as oil, gas, metals, and agricultural products—as well as related derivatives. These risks can have a significant impact on both profitability and the resilience of trading operations.

Flagship events are free and open to the public. Established leaders present, discuss, and answer questions from the audience, followed by networking drinks.