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Swiss Derivatives Review: Many commodity prices
have tumbled. One would expect this move to be
good for traders. Has it been the case?
In the Commodities special edition from the Swiss
Newspaper l’AGEFI there is a graph comparing the
very low margins of trading companies respective
to non-trading companies. Is this linked to the low
volatility on markets?
So commodity merchants trade on time?
Do you believe that trading companies have be-
come too big to fail?
Interview with Norman Hay Veteran trader and former CEO of Cargill Norman Hay, former CEO of Cargill International, retired last year from commodity trading. He worked for
38 years for Cargill, the biggest private company in the United States. In Switzerland, where Cargill em-
ploys about 1,000 staff, he has lived for twenty years: once from 1985 to 1995 and now since 2005.
Swiss Derivatives Review — Issue 60
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How did this work out in times of crises?
But are regulators and government not trying to
structure what markets should do, that is not to do
away with risk but to make sure the people who
take the risk can bear it?
With regard to too big to fail, does your assessment
not change in view of the tendency of commodity
merchants to invest in and own infrastructure?
Talking about the role of governments in markets,
what did you think about the SNB decision with re-
gard to the Swiss Franc?
Norman Hay
Retired President and
CEO of Cargill Internation-
al SA in Geneva Switzer-
land, Norman Hay has
spent a 38 year career in
the trading and shipping
of global commodities.
Furthermore, Norman has
served for 6 years as
board member of the
Swiss/American Chamber of Commerce and was a
founder member and Vice President of the Geneva
Trading and Shipping Association.
Swiss Derivatives Review — Issue 60
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At the Burgenstock conference
three years ago, a participant explained that the
SNB’s decision had wrecked his risk management.
The responsibility of international companies
abroad is a hot topic. How will commodity mer-
chants view this debate?
Since October, the STSA regroups the traders asso-
ciations from Geneva, Zug and Lugano. Were you
part of this effort and what do you think about it?
In Switzerland, many are worried about how the
business environment is evolving because of open
issues on important subjects such as immigration
or tax reform. Are you also one of them?
Swiss Derivatives Review — Issue 60
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So you do not share the concerns on the current
reforms being dangerous for the business environ-
ment?
You mentioned the advantages of neutrality. Is
there a value for a trading company to be located in
Switzerland with regard to sanctions?
Can you talk about EtherSec, your company based
in London?
Swiss Derivatives Review — Issue 60
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