Buchanan's Recent Victory for Trafigura AG Noted in Media

On June 16 and 17, 2010, a number of media outlets reported on Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney's recent victory on behalf of client Trafigura AG, the world's third-largest independent oil trader and the second largest independent trader in the non-ferrous concentrates market. As noted, on Tuesday, June 15, Litigation shareholder Gregory J. Krock, with assistance from Litigation associate Corrado Salvatore, scored a favorable decision when U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York, denied breach of contract claims made by Morgan Stanley Capital Group, Inc. (MSCG), following a bench trial held June 7-9, 2010.

In addition to news outlets such as Forbes.com, ADVFN India, iStockAnalyst and Stocktrade, an article published on June 16 by Law360 reported on the case. The action was filed by MSCG in February of 2009 in connection with its agreement in July of 2008 to purchase 25,000 barrels of M2 grade gasoline for $3,362,625 from Trafigura either by physical delivery or "book transfer," a financial settlement that is common in the gasoline trading industry in which delivery of gasoline is deemed, rather than physically made. The parties agreed that Trafigura's delivery obligation would be satisfied via a 5-party book transfer chain, which included Trafigura, MSCG, SemFuel, QuickTrip Corp. and Glencore Ltd.

Subsequent to SemFuel's bankruptcy proceedings, MSCG claimed that it cancelled its book order prior to its effective date of July 21. However, since MSCG had not obtained the consent of all of the parties in the multi-party book transfer chain to cancel the transaction, the Court concluded that the chain was not cancelled. There was, therefore, no breach by Trafigura and MSCG's claim failed.

As noted in Judge Cote's opinion, "At its core, this action represents an attempt by MSCG to shift the burden of the credit risk to which it was exposed when SemFuel's financial condition deteriorated in July 2008. Unsatisfied by the prospect of seeking recovery in SemFuel's bankruptcy proceedings, MSCG essentially asks that Trafigura be placed in its shoes as the party that paid, but did not get paid, in the Book Transfer Chain. Such a result would not only be unjust, but is completely unwarranted by the facts in this case."

As noted in the Law360 article, titled " Morgan Stanley Loses $3.4M Gas Contract Spat," "Gregory Krock of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, who represents Trafigura, said that his company felt 'vindicated by the ruling.'"

Additionally, the New York Law Journal published the opinion on June 23, 2010.