An aerial view of Calgary.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail
An international commodities brokerage is opening a Calgary office, having hired a trio of oil-trade veterans from a domestic rival.
London-based Marex Spectron said Justin Norbraten, Jay Mitchell and Tarun Ajwani will staff the office, which will concentrate on brokering Canadian crude oil in physical and financial markets.
The three had been with Shorcan Energy Brokers, owned by TMX Group Ltd., until earlier this year, when they left as a group.
The company, the world's largest independent commodities brokerage, said it plans to begin operations in the Canadian crude market in January. It said it expects to launch indexes using the crude trades it brokers and may also broker other commodities as well.
"Hiring Justin, Jay and Tarun and opening the Calgary office are significant developments. These are very big names in a highly specialized market and will allow us to develop key Canadian Crude indices around their trades," Hunter Baldwin, the head of Marex Spectron's North American business, said in a statement.
"We have long seen sizable opportunities in the Canadian market and this now allows us to develop them, not just in energy, but also across metals and agricultural products."
The three former Shorcan professionals, as well as Marex Spectron, had been the subject of legal action launched by Shorcan in a Calgary court this summer following the exodus. A TMX spokesman was not immediately available to comment on the status of the lawsuit. A spokesman for Marex Spectron said there is no outstanding legal action.