Published on March 9, 2021 – translated in English by LCTA

Ticino is experiencing good growth in the commodities trading sector. What are the characteristics that enable this trend?

Many characteristic elements of the “Swiss System” are fundamental for the sector, to name just a few: political stability and legal certainty, tax conditions and a banking system that is traditionally active in the commodity trade finance. In the leading cantons in terms of intensity of activity in the sector, these aspects are complemented by the availability of skills, which mainly stems from historical reasons, from the establishment over time of some companies that have subsequently become leaders in their respective markets. The consequent ability to attract talent and subsequent spin-offs have created a virtuous circle in the most active cantons – and Ticino is no exception – that has led us to the data published in recent days.

Your association is committed to this growth. What are the main initiatives you plan to take in the future to support the sector?

The virtuous circle I referred to earlier must be supported and nurtured so that it continues to create value and growth. LCTA has been active for ten years, during which we have been committed to training new human resources and offering continuing education opportunities to those already employed. In parallel, the association carries out continuous communication with stakeholders and promotion activities to foster the development of new relationships and keep the soil fertile for the establishment of new businesses and the growth of existing ones. We will of course continue with these activities and are gearing up for new challenges. Competitiveness will also depend on new factors; there will be technological aspects and process efficiency on which we will have to work as a sector, in a coordinated manner, involving players at different levels of our supply chains. The cantonal trade associations, and STSA at federal level, are the right places to address these issues and develop solutions that will allow the “Swiss System” to remain at the top of the world.

It is said that this type of business is ‘volatile’. Is this true?

It depends on the noun to which you attach the adjective ‘volatile’. If we talk about the more speculative aspects fundamentally linked to financial markets, we would have to open a long debate, but commodity trading at international level is probably one of the oldest activities that still takes place on a large scale, and it has basically remained unchanged over the centuries. I would add that the largest companies in the sector have a fair amount of longevity, so all in all it is a pretty solid and traditional business, serving basic needs such as the supply of materials that are often essential for survival. It is essential, to be successful, to have the tools to deal with the volatility of the markets in which we operate. One of the essential tasks of trading companies, especially in certain commodities, is to absorb volatility and absorb its effects along the supply chain so that they do not amplify. Precisely in order to fulfil this and other tasks of coordinating activities within the supply chains of which we are part, trading companies must have a solid foundation, risk management skills and the cyclicality of the markets.

What kind of jobs have been created in Ticino?

LCTA, in collaboration with its cousins in the Zug Commodity Association (ZCA), has created a post-graduate training program to make up for the lack of university courses dedicated to international commodities trading, thus favoring the training of highly qualified young people and the further growth of people already working in the sector.  Our basic training continues to train staff in a multidisciplinary manner. In addition to this, we work to make the environment more attractive, so that we can complement local talent with talent from abroad and further enrich our companies with experience. In recent years, in any case, the professions that have come to Ticino range from the trader to the logistics or insurance expert, from the person dealing with the financing of raw materials to those who have made IT their focal point of development, from the pure mathematician to the meteorology expert. These are skilled jobs, involving the most disparate (sometimes surprising) disciplines and normally well paid.

Article by Dr. Pietro Poretti

On 28 September 2020 the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) released new reporting Guidelines for companies buying oil, gas and minerals from governments.

Payments by companies purchasing natural resources generate a significant portion of public revenues in some of the world’s poorest countries. Such payments are exposed to governance risks as they may take place in environments of weak institutions and widespread corruption. Risks have been identified at various levels, including the selection of buyers and allocation of sales contracts; sales transactions and collection of revenues; and transfer of proceeds to the treasury. The EITI Guidelines represent a further step towards greater transparency in natural resources and complement mirroring reporting requirements for selling entities, building on the 2019 EITI Standard which requires governments to disclose volumes received and sold as well as revenues from any oil, gas or mining-related deal.

The 2020 Guidelines’ key disclosure requirements for buying companies are as follows:

• Who is selling the product? (counterparty name – seller; counterparty country, load port)
• Who is buying the products? (buying entity name)
• What product is being purchased? (product type; volume purchased)
• What does the buyer pay to the seller for the product?

Companies can use the templates annexed to the Guidelines for their disclosures. The forms offer different levels of disaggregation of the data presented: volumes and values by individual seller; volumes by cargo, and values by individual seller; or volumes and values by cargo. Further, the Guidelines address swaps and resource backed loans. Three Swiss-based commodity trading firms (Glencore, Gunvor and Trafigura), are already disclosing their transactions around oil and mining where states or SOEs are concerned in yearly reports.

Beside demonstrating their financial contribution to the economies of the countries from which they purchase commodities, regular disclosures can increase a company’s reputation and its social license to operate. Improved transparency may also facilitate access to capital from financial institutions, notably in light of the investors’ growing sensitivity to environment, social and governance (ESG) criteria, as well as the emergence of sustainability-linked financing schemes. As more and more governments in the 55 EITI implementing countries include information on receipts from the sale of natural resources in their annual reports, company-level reporting also provides companies with the opportunity to contextualize and complement information being disclosed by state and state-owned enterprises counterparts.

Switzerland is not an EITI implementing country. Nevertheless, through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Switzerland has directly supported the elaboration of the EITI Guidelines and is urging trading companies to use the Guidelines to build trust in a more transparent and accountable commodity trading sector. Promoting the development and adoption of a global standard also serves the purpose of preserving the level playing field vis-à-vis other trading hubs. Last but not least, Swiss-based companies can shape the development of future disclosure standards by taking part in the activities of the EITI Working Group on Transparency in Commodity Trading, a forum which also includes representatives of civil society, host and home countries governments and state-owned enterprises.

The reform of the Swiss corporate law recently approved by the Parliament stops short from requiring companies to disclose payments to SOEs for the purchase of natural resources. The amendments to the Swiss “Code of Obligations” – not yet in force – mirror the content of EU Directives 2013/34 and 2013/50, requiring companies active in the exploitation of natural resources to publicly disclose in a special report all payments to public authorities that exceed CHF 100,000 per year. Thus, this new disclosure requirement will only affect companies that extract raw materials. Nevertheless, the Federal Council is authorized, as part of an “internationally coordinated approach”, to extend the scope of application to companies that trade raw materials (see new Art. 964 f of the Swiss Code of Obligations).

Public attention towards good governance and transparency is growing, as shown by the narrow rejection of the “Responsible Business Initiative” in Switzerland. The Biden administration has been urged to reengage with EITI after the previous administration decision to withdraw the United States from the initiative in 2017. These elements, combined with increased challenges for public budgets posed by COVID-19, suggest that the high-water mark for boundary-pushing transparency standards may still lie ahead of us.

The EITI Guidelines and the reporting templates are available at this link

Dr. Pietro Poretti currently serves as Head, Economic Development Division, Città di Lugano. In 2019-2020 he consulted for the EITI Secretariat and assisted in the development of the transparency Guidelines.

by Luca Albertoni, Direttore Cc-Ti

The initiative that we will vote on November 29 is presented as “for responsible multinationals”, but it is actually called “for responsible business”.
A difference that should not be underestimated and that should make you think deeply, because it means that the additional rules would not be imposed only to some giants, frequently considered as “unsympathetic”, but to all Swiss companies active directly or indirectly in the international arena. This includes small and medium companies.

The figures speak for themselves: there are at least 80’000 Swiss companies potentially involved at an international level, among them 5’364 in Ticino. This data has been highlighted by the Federal Council and not contested.
It would be therefore an important percentage of Swiss and Ticino economy which will be confronted with the application of the irrational supplement of rules foreseen by the initiative. For example, we cite the presumption of guilt. Violations would no longer have to be proven by those who invoke them, but there would be an obligation for the companies involved to prove their innocence, even if they are pure allegations. Assumptions that would result in incalculable reputational, regardless of the outcome of the proceedings. Damages based on simple accusations and, for the vast majority of cases, never really materialized to judicial authorities.
No one, the economic world of our country first and foremost, intends to support those who do not respect human rights or the environment, an indefensible attitude. But it is precisely the excellent international reputation of Swiss companies (or companies based in Switzerland) that has amply demonstrated that this sensitivity is already very much felt and taken on board today. All those who betray this human and corporate seriousness have to sentence their own mistakes and have to respond according to the rules of the host country, as it is already the case today. We do not need other rules.

Those who operate internationally are currently, and already long ago, confronted with a whole series of complex and strict rules, both for their activities on a national and international level. An example: the gold refinery sector, which is very present in Ticino, often criticized and arbitrarily accused, is a sector that must submit to dozens of very strict rules and it is considered at the forefront of both environmental and social sustainability.
If, as provided in the text of the initiative, Swiss companies would be declared responsible not only for the conduct of the companies directly employed and controlled by them, but also for those companies that are associated with any business relationship, it is well understood how this constraint would make most of the collaborations impossible, as controls of this kind are absolutely impractical.

Another example: bear in mind that an iPhone has about 10’000 components and 40 raw materials, with suppliers for each category that can vary depending on the markets and therefore, often, even daily. The same characteristics also apply to many Swiss industrial products.
In turn, the suppliers have their own chains, even those often located in the international area.
The immense difficulty of the continuous search for feedback in the dense network of business contacts shows that the application of the initiative would only be an additional obstacle for Swiss companies (and only for our realities), not resolving or alleviating any problems related to the protection of human rights and the environment.

The counter-proposal of the Parliament, which would come into force in case of rejection of the initiative, constitutes in fact, a sufficient additional restrictive legal basis, which puts Switzerland ethically at the forefront of the world.

The popular vote on the Responsible Business Initiative will take place on November 29, 2020 and the campaign will start this summer. On that date, the Swiss people will be able to vote for or against the initiative.
If the population accepts the initiative, it would still have to be implemented on a statutory level. If the initiative does not reach the majority of votes, the indirect counter-proposal will be adopted (subject to a referendum). The reporting and due diligence obligations would then need to be observed for the first time in the financial year commencing one year after the entry into effect.

KKS counter1. Key elements of the Initiative-proposal

The RBI seeks to introduce a new article 101a to the Federal Constitution. This article proposes the following key requirements for companies with registered office, central administration or principal place of business in Switzerland (Swiss companies) :
– Respect all internationally recognized human rights and international environmental standards in Switzerland and abroad and ensure that companies under their (actual) control do the same.
– Conduct appropriate due diligence with respect to risks to human rights and the environment by identifying actual and potential impacts, take measures to prevent and cease existing violations, and report on such measures. These obligations extend to controlled companies (subsidiaries and suppliers).
– Accept liability for damage caused by companies under their control by violation of internationally recognized human rights and international environmental standards in the course of business, unless they prove to have complied with their due diligence obligations (reversal of the burden of proof).

The Swiss Parliament supports the main goal of the initiative that is the respect for human rights and the environmental through business, but concluded that the initiative went too far and would significantly weaken the attractiveness for Switzerland as a business hub. Instead, it supports the indirect counter-proposal.

2. Key elements of the indirect counter-proposal

Non-financial reporting duties

A new proposed provision in article 964bis ff. of the Swiss Code of Obligations would require public companies, banks, insurance companies and other supervised companies in the financial sector, which together with controlled companies in Switzerland and abroad (the Group) :
(i) have at least 500 full-time employees on annual average, and
(ii) exceed either total assets of CHF 20 million or revenues of CHF 40 million, to report annually on non-financial matters in a separate report.
These provisions are in line with the Non-Financial Reporting Directive of the EU.

The report must contain information necessary to understand the Group’s business development, performance, position and impact of its activity on environmental (incl. CO2 targets), social, employee, human rights and anti-corruption topics. The report has to include but is not limited to a description of :
(i) the business model,
(ii) policies pursued and due diligence carried out,
(iii) main risks resulting from the Group’s own operations and, where relevant and proportionate, from its business relationships, products or services,
(iv) measures taken and assessed, and
(v) the main non-financial key performance indicators.

The report may be based on national, European or international reporting standards, such as the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises or the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) among others. A reporting company may choose not to report on topics with respect to which the Group does not pursue policies. This would, however, require the report to provide a clear and reasoned explanation. Furthermore, the report is subject to approval by the board of directors and by the general meeting of shareholders but it does not need to be audited.

Due diligence obligations in connection with conflict minerals and child labor

Swiss Companies that (i) import or process minerals or metals containing tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold from conflict or high-risk areas, or (ii) offer products or services where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that child labor was involved, are subject to special due diligence and related reporting obligations with respect to their supply chain. The Federal Council may define certain exceptions.
Companies would be required to implement a management system with a defined supply chain policy and a system to trace back the supply chain, identify and assess actual and potential risks of adverse impacts in their supply chain, implement a risk management plan with measures to prevent or mitigate such risks, and issue an annual report on the compliance with these obligations. Additionally, companies importing or processing minerals or metals must appoint an independent third party to carry out audits on the compliance with the abovementioned obligations.

As far as criminal liability is concerned, the proposed provisions foresee that anyone who makes false statements in, or fails to provide, a required non-financial report will be fined with up to CHF 100’000.

Florence Schurch
Secretary general of STSA, is at your disposal to answer your questions:
+41 22 715 29 90 / florence.schurch@stsaswiss.ch