Several oil traders at Macquarie Group Ltd. have left the firm, with the departures coming as the bank merges two of its main commodity-trading units. The traders, who handle crude and refined products in Singapore, Geneva and elsewhere, departed in recent weeks, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The departures include Daniel Mortleman and Simon Fender in Singapore, as well as Natalia de la Huerga and Marc Aguilar in Geneva, the people said. Macquarie has been merging the trading divisions of Macquarie Bank Ltd. with the Macquarie Commodities Trading SA unit, both of which have staff who handle similar commodities, albeit with different portfolios. Macquarie declined to comment, and none of the other individuals responded to messages seeking comment.
It is not immediately clear whether the people left as a direct result of the restructuring or departed of their own accord. Mortleman had been at the bank for 28 years, while Fender was there for a decade, according to their LinkedIn profiles. In at least one Asian market, some traders working for Macquarie Commodities Trading will be let go, with the remaining staff folded into Macquarie Bank's teams, the people said.
Macquarie has made several acquisitions in commodities in recent quarters. The group bought Energy Assets Group earlier this year and Erova Energy Group in 2025. It had also weighed acquiring metals trader Transamine SA and Cargill Inc.'s ferrous unit, Bloomberg has reported. The US-Iran war has spurred a banner year for many energy traders globally, as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the upending of shipping markets boosted volatility and created lucrative opportunities for trading houses, oil majors and banks. Still, some traders who were wrong-footed as commodity prices swung have seen losses.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing