Risk Due
Diligence
Abacus conducts Risk Due Diligence (RDD) investigations that focus on providing insight into commodity companies’ trading, hedging and risk management practices. Abacus Advisory has carried out RDDs for more than 250 commodity companies around the world. RDDs help financiers and investors to make informed decisions with respect to providing funding or capital to commodity trading or processing companies. They also are designed to identify financial and fraud risk factors at an early stage.
Borrowing Base Investigations
Abacus Advisory conducts Borrowing Base Investigations (BBIs) on behalf of financiers that focus on establishing the eligibility, existence and appropriate valuation of collateral provided under a Borrowing Base financing facility. Abacus Advisory has carried out numerous BBIs across different commodities (including energy, metals and agricultural commodities) and geographies.
Risk Management Advisory
Abacus Advisory develops and implements commodity risk management frameworks, hedging policies and trading performance analyses for commodity trading and processing companies. Through its understanding and expertise of commodity trading and the associated trade-related risks, Abacus Advisory ensures risk advisory services are tailored to the specific commodity’s characteristics and client business model’s requirements.
Financial Reporting Advisory
Abacus Advisory develops and implements financial reporting policies for commodity companies. Abacus also provides support with interpretation and application of International Financial Reporting Standards for commodity positions. Moreover, Abacus Advisory supports trade finance banks in performing or enhancing credit analyses – in particular with respect to commodity-related assets and liabilities.
In-house training courses
Abacus has developed specialized modular in-house training courses focusing on trading, hedging, risk management and financial reporting for commodity companies. Training course programmes have been developed for commodity companies, trade finance banks and development banks and taught in Asia, Australia, Europe, South America and the US.
Webinars
Abacus Academy provides webinars on a wide variety of subjects associated with commodity trading and trade finance.
E-Learning
Abacus Academy offers a suite of e-learning modules that cover commodity trading, hedging, risk management and financial reporting. The modular approach ensures training programmes can be tailored to participants’ requirements, focus areas and levels of experience.
MERX Trade Simulator
MERX Trade Simulator is an integrated and multi-disciplinary tool that combines futures with physical commodity trading, logistics, treasury, accounting and risk management.
MERX Collateral Management
MERX Collateral Management is a web-based tool that enhances trade finance banks’ collateral monitoring of secured trade finance facilities.
About Abacus
Abacus Advisory was founded by Eelco Wolters in 2008. Prior to this, Eelco worked for 11 years in a Big Four Accounting Firm where he had also specialized in the commodity sector.
Through numerous multi-disciplinary engagements conducted in the areas of risk management, financial reporting and information technology, Abacus has built-up a unique level of expertise of commodity trading and processing companies around the world.