About
I am a leading advisor and expert witness in global commodity and energy markets, drawing on deep trading and risk‑management experience across multiple asset classes. He specialises in reconstructing market conditions, valuing complex exposures, and dissecting trading behaviour for legal, insurance, and financial clients. My analysis is recognised for its commercial realism, strategic insight, and exceptional clarity.
A veteran commodity and energy markets expert, approaching four decades of front‑line experience across trading, risk management, valuation, and structured finance. His career spans physical and derivatives markets in crude oil, refined products, fertilizers, phosphates, sulphur, steel, and related supply chains, giving him a uniquely cross‑commodity perspective that few practitioners possess. He has built and launched OTC swap markets, financed metals and steel firms as a banker, and advised trading houses, exchanges, and financial institutions on market structure, pricing logic, and risk frameworks.
Widely recognised for my ability to reconstruct commercial reality in complex disputes. I am regularly instructed as an expert witness in high‑value arbitrations and litigations involving alleged commodity‑trade fraud, historical price reconstruction, valuation disputes, and assessments of trader conduct. Clients value my work for its clarity, commercial realism, and rigorous grounding in how markets actually behave. In 2024–25, he served as the lead industry expert in a major commodity‑trading fraud arbitration, providing written reports, deposition evidence, and in‑person testimony that counsel credited as integral to a successful outcome.
Beyond disputes, I still act as a consultant / advisor to insurers, capital providers, and trading firms on risk management, valuation methodologies, general senior management advice and the commercial viability of business plans and refinancing proposals. I also lecture to and mentor mentor aspiring young commodity professionals (brokers and analysts), helping shape the next generation of market practitioners. My clients value my broad experience, strategic insight, and ability to translate complex market logic into clear, actionable guidance for legal, financial, and commercial audiences.
Methodology & Approach
My approach to expert witness work is grounded in independence, clarity, and commercial realism. I’m not there to advocate for a party, but to help tribunals and counsel understand how real‑world commodity markets operate and how experienced traders make decisions under pressure.
Expert Witness Experience
In 2024–2025, I served as the expert witness in a major international arbitration concerning a complex commodity‑trading fraud. The matter involved an extensive factual record, intricate trading structures, and contested valuation and risk‑management decisions. I provided both a remote deposition and in‑person testimony before the tribunal.
My instructing counsel, a partner at Wiley Rein, described my contribution as “integral to a successful result” and highlighted my ability to master a dense factual record, communicate opinions with clarity and precision, and work collaboratively throughout an intense preparation process. She noted that I handled both deposition and live testimony “adroitly,” and emphasised the quality of my written evidence, work ethic, and subject‑matter expertise.
This case required deep reconstruction of trading behaviour, pricing logic, and commercial context—areas where my decades of experience as a trader, broker, and banker proved essential. The tribunal engaged closely with my analysis, and my evidence played a central role in shaping the outcome.
Case Types
My expert witness work spans a range of high‑stakes disputes across the global commodity and energy markets. Recent instructions have included:
• Commodity Trade Fraud & Insurance Claims
Analysis of alleged physical commodity trade fraud involving falsified documentation, misrepresented cargo movements, and subsequent insurance claims. My work focused on reconstructing commercial reality, identifying inconsistencies in trade flows, and assessing whether the claimed losses aligned with market practice and physical logistics.
• Historical Commodity Valuation Disputes
Preparation of contemporaneous price reconstructions and valuation analyses for multiple commodities, including crude oil, refined products, fertilizers, and steel. These assignments required rebuilding market conditions from first principles, integrating exchange data, OTC indications, and physical market intelligence to determine fair market value at specific historical points.
• Post‑Rejection Trading Behaviour & Mitigation Analysis
Detailed examination of trader actions following cargo rejections, including mitigation steps, resale strategies, hedging adjustments, and compliance with standard commercial practice. This work involved assessing whether the decisions taken were reasonable, timely, and aligned with the incentives and constraints of real‑world trading desks.
• Assessment of a Major Trading House’s Refinancing Plan
Independent commercial evaluation of a proposed refinancing and restructuring plan for a global commodity trading firm. I was instructed by a group of US bondholders to assess the viability of the business plan, the credibility of projected trading margins, liquidity assumptions, and the robustness of the firm’s risk‑management framework.
Notable Matters
Lead industry expert in a major 2024–25 commodity‑trading fraud arbitration, providing tribunal‑ready analysis on alleged falsified trades and insurance claims; mastered an extensive factual record, produced clear and commercially grounded reports, and delivered both remote deposition and in‑person testimony that counsel credited as integral to a successful outcome.
Education & Credentials
Education
BA Hons.
Certifications & Licenses
FCA, CFTC,SEC Registered Representative.
