Capital Link's 5th Annual Global Derivatives Forum Achieves Considerable Attendance, Exceeding 450 Attendees

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Sep 26, 2013) - Capital Link held its 5th Annual Global Derivatives Forum in New York City on Tuesday, September 17, 2013.

It was a very successful event drawing a diverse group of more than 450 senior decision makers in the industry.

Nicolas Bornozis, President of Capital Link, remarked, "Capital Link's 5th Annual Global Derivatives Forum remains the only forum of its kind dedicated to commodities, energy, and freight. By focusing on these three strategic areas, which are followed by the same investor and trader universe, Capital Link is able to raise the overall visibility of this critical space to a significantly larger, targeted audience of industry professionals.

"The Dodd-Frank Financial Regulatory Reform Bill has enacted far reaching changes in the derivatives industry. In this year's Forum, we sought to devote a good portion of the program towards examining these updates and changes, as well as what they meant for the industry within its current landscape. At the same time, against the backdrop of economic uncertainty around the world, there have been significant changes and new trends in the commodity, energy and freight physical markets.

"Our Forum provides an invaluable source of information to investors at it explores trends and developments in the physical markets for Commodity, Energy and Freight and how these impact the activity in the global derivatives markets.

"We would like to thank our sponsors, supporting organizations and media partners for their support and contribution in making this another successful event."

Conference Material:
All conference materials including presentation slides and audio files are available on Capital Link's website, at:
http://forums.capitallink.com/shipping/2013derivatives/index.html

SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING CAPITAL LINK FORUMS:

2013

• 26 September - 6th Annual International Shipping & Marine Services Forum - LONDON
• 24 October -  3rd Annual Sustainability (CSR) in Shipping & Offshore Sectors - LONDON
• 17 December - 15th Annual Invest in Greece Forum - NEW YORK

2014

• 25 February - 5th Annual Greek Shipping Forum - ATHENS, GREECE
• 6 March - 1st Annual Master Limited Partnerships Forum - NEW YORK
• 20 March - 8th Annual Invest in International Shipping Forum, - NEW YORK
• 2 June - 4th Posidonia Analyst & Investor Day, - ATHENS, GREECE

FORUM OVERVIEW - THE ONLY FORUM ON THIS TOPIC

This year, based on feedback from past attendees and presenters, Capital Link placed an increased emphasis on the link between developments and business trends in the underlying physical markets, and how these affect prevailing derivatives activity. In addition, this year's Forum debated the major developments in the legal and regulatory fronts, as well as the challenges in trading, clearing, and financing, over the past 12 months.

FORUM STRUCTURE & PRESENTERS

The structure of this year's Forum featured provocative panel discussions, roundtables and presentations by top industry experts, followed by a networking cocktail reception. What follows is a brief summary of the day's events:

ROUNDTABLE: "DODD-FRANK DEBATE" 
Moderator: Mark Allan Smith, Partner- PricewaterhouseCoopers
Panelists:
Thomas Sexton III, Senior Vice-President, General Counsel & Secretary - National Futures Association
Tom LaSala, Managing Director & Chief Regulatory Officer - CME Group
Daniel N. Budofsky, Partner, Derivatives & Structured Products - Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Michael Loesch, Partner- Norton Rose Fulbright
Gary Simpson, Director- Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB)

The Dodd-Frank Act and related rulemaking by the CFTC and SEC are having a large impact on companies who use derivatives in the energy and commodity markets, even those who are merely hedgers or end-users. Dodd-Frank introduces new requirements for clearing and reporting of transactions, and mandates changes in the interactions between market participants. Although many rules have been finalized, additional developments are still in process in areas such as trade execution, clearing, position limits and regulatory enforcement. In addition, financial regulatory reform in Europe (such as the EMIR regulations that are now coming into effect) and other geographies are adding to the complexity of cross-border activity in the commodity markets. Market participants must continue to actively engage with their counterparties and advisors to manage through the changes resulting from these continuing regulatory developments.

PANEL: "IRON ORE & STEEL: Physical Markets and Derivatives"
Moderator: Kurt Fowler, Business Development Manager - The Steel Index
Panelists:
Young-Jin Chang, Director Metals Research and Product Development- CME Group
Colin Richardson, Managing Editor, Steel Markets Daily- Platts
Spencer Johnson, Risk Manager Ferrous Products- INTL-FCStone

The iron ore - steel panel provided the Global Derivatives Forum attendees with an opportunity to understand the current physical market dynamics of the global industry. The transactional possibilities of the financial side and the ferrous markets were also explored with panelists from a market exchange, an industry market reporter and a broker involved in the evolution of the markets.

PANEL: "COAL: Physical Markets and Derivatives"
Moderator: Michael Sackheim, Partner - Sidley Austin LLP
Panelists:
Bernie Muich, Director - CME Group
Ola Strand Andersen, Managing Director- Marex Spectron Asia Pte Ltd

The Coal Panel discussed recent developments in coal trading. Topics included: the trading and clearing of coal futures, the ability of commercial entities that use swaps for risk mitigation purposes to for a new regulatory exclusion from being mandatory swaps clearing, the emergence of Pacific coal benchmark indices, the impact of China on the coal market, the development of export capacity in the U.S. and its link to unconventional gas and environmental concerns, and aligning trading instruments with production trends in the U.S.

The Panel was comprised of a derivatives trading lawyer, the manager of coal products at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a coal trader and a coal broker.

PRESENTATION: "VOLATILITY IN THE FUEL OIL MARKET"
Charley Davies, Vice President Commercial Services-World Fuels Services (NYSE: INT)

Fuel oil markets will continue to be challenging for both end users and suppliers given the uncertain supply and demand picture along with the fast changing oil prices. Opportunistic flows of oil by trading companies will keep markets off balance and make navigating spot markets very difficult. Regulatory changes in the near future will contribute for more fluctuations in prices and availability.

PANEL: "THE FUEL OIL MARKET"
Moderator: Nick Tavlarios, President - Aegean Marine Petroleum Network (NYSE: ANW)
Panelists:
Charley Davies, Vice President Commercial Services - World Fuels Services
Dana Fraktman, VP Marine Fuel Oil Supply & Trading-Global Companies LLC (NYSE: GLP)
John Kingston, Global Director, News- Platts
Tammi Welch, VP Petroleum Services - LQM
Adrian Tolson, Regional Manager, Physical Operation - OW Bunkers

This panel focused on Volatility in the Fuel Oil market and further evaluated the following subtopics: The Regulations imposed by the IMO (International Maritime Organization) and its restrictions on Sulphur and Emissions; Technology the Bunker Business; Impact of Shale Oil Crude; Impact of Credit and Financial Liquidity; Impact of the Expansion of the Panama Canal.

PANEL: "TRADING, SETTLING & FINANCING DERIVATIVES TRADES"
Moderator: Richard Baker, Founding Member - Cleartrade Exchange
Panelists:
Catherine E. Napolitano, Deputy General Counsel OTC Derivatives- INTL-FCStone Markets LLC
Myles Edwards, Chief Compliance Officer, Constellation Wealth Advisors LLC
Martin Vera-Branch Manager- FIS USA

The "Trading, Settling and Financing Derivatives" panel moderated by Richard Baker, CEO Cleartrade Exchange sought to explore the practical implication of the Dodd Frank rules at the "Point of Trade" and in respect of "Trade Reporting". How ready is the market? The panel debated the levels of Know Your Customer (KYC) information required by counterparties ahead of orders being matched and forming trades and sought to find out how well intermediary brokers are doing in helping clients meet compliance. This coupled with new timing rules associated to registering trades within 15 minutes and clearing the trade in 2 minutes, places greater importance on right first time transaction. The panel concluded that the existing subject to clearing model for swaps is at an end as the new Dodd Frank rules drive much more towards real-time clearing and reporting. The panel also touched on the topic of "What's not in Title VII". There are numerous exemptions resting outside the new CFTC swaps rules which leave end users, intermediaries and trading venues at risk of not knowing which side of compliance they are on. The industry has embraced much of the new definitions however; much more is to come, in particular, beyond the US borders as similar rules get implemented. One thing is for sure, technology and education play a critical role in helping all participants meet compliance in this new regulated swaps world. 

PRESENTATION: "LEGAL CHALLENGES"
Presenter: Brian Perrott, Partner - Holman Fenwick Willan LLP

This topic looked at the interaction between a claim for breach of contract and profit and loss under a related hedging position. Both worlds tended to be viewed by traders and lawyers in isolation, but we have seen an increasing trend, both in England and the US, to grapple with the impact of one on the other -- a profit on a physical resale following breach can still result in a loss on a related hedging position -- a recoverable loss. Brian discussed ways in which the losses and costs of hedging can be recoverable and some of the defences used by those seeking to resist recovery. Brian is a leader in this area having both unique experience of physical trading and derivatives. Brian's experience unites both worlds.

PANEL: "THE DRY BULK FREIGHT MARKET"
Moderator: Brian Houst, Director of Freight - Dome Chartering & Trading Corp.
Panelists:
Tom Beney, President - Cargill Ocean Transport USA
Fred Gordon, SVP Corporate Affairs - Navios Maritime Holdings (NYSE: NM)
Peter S. Sandler, Portfolio Manager- Louis Dreyfus Investment Group USA

Discussions began with a focus on the 5 year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers' collapse and an analysis of the current market. We were able to dissect if it was truly a recovery in the market or just a perfect storm of micro economic commodity factors affected the market. Another very important topic was on how slow steaming or more the idea that slow steaming could cease and approx. overnight you could add 20% of the fleet back into the market. In summary the focus was well maintained on the fundamental dry bulk market.

PANEL: "THE WET FREIGHT MARKET"
Moderator: Mike Reardon, Manager Global Strategy & Freight Trading - Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX)
Panelists:
Matt Heinemann, Principle Consultant Trading Chartering - Statoil Marketing & Trading (US) Inc.
Richard Arnesen, Global Head of Tankers- Marex Spectron
Robert Bugbee, President - Scorpio Tanker (NYSE: STNG)
Per Heilmann, Executive Vice President & Chief Risk Officer- Heidmar Inc.

The tanker panel focused mainly on the clean products sector. The potential for an increase in ton-miles has provided optimism for the sector. Though this has caused a fair amount of new build ordering within this asset class, the current orderbook appears manageable.

PANEL: "THE CONTAINER MARKET"
Moderator: Richard Heath, Director - World Container Index
Panelists:
Tasos Aslidis, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer - Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESEA)
Bill Rooney, Vice President Trans-Pacific Seafreight - Kuehne + Nagel
Jean Marie LaMay, Head of Commodity & Freight Solutions - HSH Nordbank AG
Peter Shaerf, Deputy Chairman- Seaspan

Discussions covered the changing dynamic of ship size in the sector with vessels deployed on mainline trades growing quickly and the pressure that this places on other trades when smaller vessels are cascaded. The continuing feature of freight rate volatility and when liner trades may transition from an over supplied to equilibrium situation. The growing derivatives market was discussed covering which types of organizations are using these tools and also how participation can be increased.

ROUNDTABLE: ANALYSTS
Moderator: Clay Maitland, Managing Partner - International Registries, Inc.
Panelists:
Urs M.F.E. Dür, Managing Director, Senior Equity Analyst - Clarkson Capital Markets
Michael Webber, Senior Analyst - Wells Fargo & Company
Ben Nolan, Director Maritime Research- Stifel Financial Corp.

The Analyst panel discussed recent developments in the various shipping sectors, including dry bulk, crude and product tankers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and containers. There was wide consensus on the outlook for both the product and crude tanker spaces, based upon changes in traditional geographic refinery capacity, along with significant changes in ton-mile demand. Capital raising activity has been quite robust, particularly in the dry bulk and product tanker markets thus far in 2013; the panel examined the availability of capital for shipping from both traditional banking sources, as well as the private equity market.

Conference Materials
All conference materials including presentation slides and audio files are available on Capital Link's website, at:
http://forums.capitallink.com/shipping/2013derivatives/index.html

ORGANIZER - CAPITAL LINK, INC.

Capital Link is a New York-based advisory, investor relations, and financial communications firm. Capitalizing on our in-depth knowledge of the shipping industry and capital markets, Capital Link has made a strategic commitment to the industry, becoming the largest provider of investor relations and financial communications services to international shipping companies listed on the U.S. and European Exchanges. Capital Link's headquarters are in New York with a presence in London and Athens. Capital Link is a member of the Baltic Exchange. In addition to the two recognitions from the Intercontinental Finance Magazine, Capital Link won in 2011 a Lloyds List Greek Shipping Award for its contribution to the shipping industry.

In our effort to enhance the information flow to the investment community and improve awareness about shipping and the maritime sector to a wider audience, Capital Link has undertaken a series of initiatives beyond the traditional scope of our investor relations activity, such as:

www.CapitalLinkShipping.com: A free, web-based resource that provides information on the major shipping and stock market indices, as well as on all shipping stocks, it also features an earnings and conference call calendar every quarter, industry reports from major industry participants, and interviews with CEOs, analysts, and other market participants.

Weekly Capital Link Shipping Markets Report: A free weekly report with information on the news and activity of all U.S., UK, and Milan listed shipping companies, it offers a review of the dry bulk, tanker, container, sales, and purchase shipping markets, a review of the equity and bond markets for shipping, interviews, company profiles, and more. This report is distributed to an extensive audience in the U.S. and European shipping investor community.

Sector Forums & Webinars: Capital Link organizes panel discussions among CEOs and analysts on various shipping sectors (container, dry bulk, and tanker) and on other major topics of interest.

Capital Link Invest in Shipping Forums: Spanning across New York, Athens, and London, these forums bring together investors, financial advisors, listed companies' CEOs, analysts, and shipping industry participants.

www.MaritimeIndices.com: Through the Capital Link Maritime Indices, Capital Link has developed and maintains a series of stock market maritime indices, which track the performance of U.S. listed shipping stocks (CL maritime Index, CL Dry Bulk Index, CL Tanker Index, CL Container Index, CL LNG/LPG Index, CL Mixed Fleet Index, CL Shipping MLP Index - Bloomberg page: CPLI). These Indices are also accessible through Bloomberg, Reuters, and FactSet.

www.MaritimeCSR.com: Capital Link has developed a new initiative focusing on Sustainability - it aims to identify and showcase best corporate practices in innovation, environment, health, safety and corporate governance in the maritime and offshore sectors. This initiative includes a web based information resource, am Annual Conference taking place in London every October, webinars and informational newsletters and reports.

MLP.Capitallink.com: Our newest initiative, visitors can track the ever growing Master Limited Partnership (MLP) space, and access the press releases, daily news, blogs, daily & historical prices for all 120+ MLPs. Features to the portal include comparative charts, factsheets, presentations, webinars and much more.