Swiss trading giant Gunvor Group has poached Mecuria’s Jeff Webster as its new chief financial officer.

Webster has been at the trader and tanker charterer as group treasurer for four years, and was previously at lender UBS for 12 years.

He is replacing CFO Muriel Schwab at Gunvor, which itself is a huge charterer and shipowner.

The new executive will be based in Geneva.

Webster started his career as a foreign exchange trader and analyst in reserve management at the Bank of England.

“We welcome Jeff to lead Gunvor’s global financial strategy as our company continues to expand into new trading areas, including into energy transition opportunities,” said Gunvor chairman and chief executive Torbjorn Tornqvist.

“Jeff carries a deep background and knowledge of finance and commodity risk management, which will serve Gunvor’s continued development well,” he added.

Gunvor said Schwab has decided to pursue new opportunities outside Gunvor.

She will stay on for a period of transition before leaving.

Schwab joined in 2019 from Rabobank in New York, having been at Gunvor as CFO for the Asia-Pacific region, along with being a director and chairman of the management committee of Gunvor Singapore, from 2009 to 2014.

Tornqvist said: “We thank Muriel for her years of service to Gunvor.”

“She has been instrumental in overseeing the growth and diversification of the company’s financing capabilities, which has enabled us to effectively navigate and benefit from the recent years of turbulence in global energy markets. We wish her well in her new endeavours,” he added.