ARBITRATOR PROFILE Mr. First Name: Family name: Date of birth: Nationalitie(s): Address: Title [for e.g. Prof. / Dr.] Ms. Conrad Creffield 13.06.1964 Swiss & English 2 Chemin Perdriau Landecy 1257, Switzerland Telephone: +41 79 220 43 88 E-mail: conradcreffield@mac.com Mobile: +41 79 220 43 88 SPECIALIZATION International Sales & Related transactions Shipping and Maritime Trade Finance Steel / Iron / Metals Soft commodities Oil & Gas Ore / Mining Veg Oils and Fats Insurance Collateral Management Agreements Other: CURRENT POSITION(S) Trade representative & arbitrator TYPES OF COMMODITIES DEALT WITH IN PREVIOUS CASES Barley Corn Gluten Feed Cranberry beans Distiller Dried Grains Fishmeal Malting Barley Palmkernel Expellers Peas
Rapeseed Meal Rice Soyabean Meal Soyabeans Sugar Sugar Beet Pulp Pellets Sunflower Meal Sunflower seed oil Wheat Wheat Flour Nominated as Arbitrator in over 90 cases of which over 30 at Appeal. Acted as Chairman and drafter of Awards in over 30 cases at first tier and appeal. QUALIFICATIONS (Bar admission; technical degrees; etc.) GAFTA Qualified Arbitrator first tier & appeal FOSFA Qualified Arbitrator CAMP Arbitrator PROFESSIONAL EPERIENCE 2011 March 2012 Novel Management Services SA, Geneva, switzerland Project Generator and boutique investment company- 10 staff worldwide CEO Responsible for the day-to-day management of the company Implement goals set by the shareholders. Lead agro-industrial projects in Africa to present to private and institutional investors. Manage teams in Africa, engaging technical experts. Negotiate with local authorities at the highest governmental levels. Achievements: Negotiated and signed a long-term land lease for rice cultivation with the Liberian government. Preparing and presenting Group road show to institutional investors (General management level) that led to further interest for funding and was material in obtaining commercial credit lines for the group s trading activity. Negotiated with third-party technical partners convincing them to commit financially versus simply charging fees, in order to insure commitments and giving them the opportunity to share in positive outcomes.
2000 2011 Novel Commodities SA, Geneva, switzerland Commodity trading company - 130 staff worldwide Trading Manager (COO) and member of the board of Directors Responsible for supervising the company s commodity trading activities (rice, sugar, coffee and cocoa) that generated an average yearly turnover close to 1 billion dollars per annum. Managing teams in Geneva (trading, execution and freight) as well as internationally (in Vietnam, Thailand, Senegal, Côte-d Ivoire, Cameroon, Liberia, Sierra-Leone and Ghana) Establishing and having validated by the board of directors yearly trading plans and budgets. Ensuring legal compliance in all the areas where the company was active. Preparing the end of year report to the shareholders and interacting with the company s auditors. Achievements: Setup and led many overseas offices and joint-ventures for the sourcing and marketing (stock and sale) of soft commodities (rice, sugar, coffee and cocoa) notably in Côte-d Ivoire, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea Cameroun as well as Poland, Latvia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Thailand, Vietnam and Brazil. Initiated financing structures involving CMA s and leveraging on European cost of funds versus local, thus increasing profitability by 2 to 3% on average. Conceived and presented company wide performance based compensation package and negotiated first-tier pension plan putting emphasis on compensation in case of accidental death during travel giving a level of comfort to staff with families who travel extensively. Initiated and lead implementation of company CTRM (Commodity Trading and Risk Management) software system used for position risk management. Led recovery efforts permitting the recuperation of several million s of dollars worth of bad debt. Acts as an arbitrator in trade disputes in order to stay abreast of current legal thinking in commodity trading, using this knowledge as a tool for internal risk management. Assisting Group CEO in negotiations at government level (president and ministerial level, Sierra-Leone, Liberia) to implement food supply strategies during the food crisis, Briefed Thai ministry of commerce on Rice situation in Africa Handled media relations during food crisis (newspaper interviews) Took part in documentary film on the rice trade (main base sur le riz) in order to present real picture vs. demagogy. Active Board member instrumental in conceiving and initiating expansion plans, negotiated purchase of coffee and cocoa export unit in Cameroun from large international multinational in order to sustain the company s trading activities. Drew up and obtained agreement for an MOU with a Chinese government entity for ocean freight optimization and investments in West Africa. Initiated employee training in job related areas.
1997 1999 Cereal Investment Company (CIC) SA, Geneva, switzerland Commodity trading company - 35 staff worldwide Senior Commodity Trader Responsible for following the company s existing markets for rice and sugar. Contributing to the company s growth by opening new markets. In charge of the overseas marketing offices in Senegal and Côte-d Ivoire. Active in all of the day-to-day trading activities of the company including litigation and freight fixing. Achievements Opened new markets in Cameroon and Congo. 1993 1997 Inglewood Gestion SA, Geneva, switzerland Commodity trading company - 15 staff in Geneva Commodity Trader Trader in coffee and cocoa coordinating with the company s producing, sourcing and preprocessing assets in Côte-d Ivoire and Cameroun. Marketing to major buyers such as Taloca and Nestlé as well as to smaller players in the Italian market in the case of coffee. Sourcing and marketing coffee from other origins in Africa (Guinea, Central Africa and Togo). Trader in rice from Asia to Africa. Active in all aspects of the trade including freight and legal. Achievements Setup and led joint ventures for the sourcing of soft commodities (coffee and cocoa) notably in Guinea and Cameroun. Initiated financing structures involving CMA s and leveraging on European cost of funds versus local, thus increasing profitability by 4 to 5% on average. 1983 1993 Cargill International SA, Geneva, switzerland Commodity trading company - +50,000 staff worldwide Commodity Trader Trader with specific responsibility for malting barley covering the world market handling contacts with buyers, coordination with other Cargill offices, supply and demand, and liaison with the food barley sector. Wheat trader with prime responsibility for Turkish/Plate/Saudi/Exotic wheats covering the north European, South American, Far East and main Middle Eastern markets. Supply and demand coordination between Cargill offices. Rice Trader responsible for U.S. international rice trading and co-responsible for rice trading from Asia to Africa.
Achievements Setup and led many overseas joint ventures for the marketing (stock and sale) of rice notably in Ghana, Guinea and Benin. Initiated (then) innovative financing structures involving CMA s and leveraging on European cost of funds versus local, thus increasing profitability by 2 to 3% on average. Led recovery efforts permitting the recuperation of several million s of dollars worth of bad debt. Made a survey of Turkish export and warehousing assets for the management. EDUCATION (University; technical; etc.) LMM Maritime Law OTHER Regular speaker at trade conferences and institutes of higher education (HEG). Numerous Training Courses in Arbitration, Management and Leadership Seminars.