Built on verification, transparency, and a compliance-first approach that institutional buyers and sellers can trust from first contact. Founded by a professional whose career was built on document integrity, regulatory compliance, and process discipline — not on deal-making instinct alone.
Before founding Baum Global Commodities, Tanya Baum spent over two decades in clinical research — working across document integrity, regulatory documentation, contract review, process auditing, and compliance in complex, multi-site environments where deviation from protocol had real consequences.
The discipline required in that world is precisely the discipline that petroleum brokerage lacks. Every document traceable, every counterparty verifiable, every step in the process documented and defensible. BGC was founded on the premise that the methodologies developed in regulated research environments — not the habits of a market that tolerates opacity — are the correct model for international commodities brokerage.
The through-line is not incidental. Document integrity is document integrity, whether the subject is a clinical research protocol or a petroleum offtake agreement. A mandate with no verifiable origin is a protocol deviation. A seller with no registered entity is an unsigned document. A broker chain that obscures principals is a chain-of-custody failure.
Baum Global Commodities operates as a non-title-taking intermediary — commission-only, no upfront fees, no broker chains beyond three parties, every counterparty screened before introduction. BGC was founded not because the opportunity was obvious, but because the gap between how this market operates and how it should operate was too clear to ignore.
Every serious petroleum transaction runs into the same impasse. Sellers won't disclose allocation details without non-circumvention protection. Buyers won't issue demand documentation without first verifying supply. Neither party moves first. Deals stall — or collapse into chains of unverified intermediaries passing forwarded documents no one originated.
BGC encountered this standoff repeatedly in its first year of operations. The market had no infrastructure for solving it — no neutral verification body, no structured submission gateway, no documented protocol that both sides could trust before identity was disclosed.
The ClearBridge Protocol was built to be that infrastructure. Counterparties submit under a Counterparty Submission Agreement — screened, cleared, and matched before a single identity is disclosed. Non-circumvention protection binds from the moment of submission. Introduction happens only after both sides have independently executed the NCNDA/IMFPA.
"The long-term positioning is what FICO did for credit, what UL did for product safety, what SWIFT did for banking messages. A trusted verification and credentialing body that the market comes to rely on. ClearBridge is the foundation."— Tanya Baum, Managing Director, Baum Global Commodities
Six principles that govern every engagement, without exception.
BGC works exclusively with mandate holders who can verify direct authority. Sub-mandates and unverifiable chains are not engaged.
No counterparty identity is disclosed until both parties have independently executed the NCNDA/IMFPA. Non-circumvention binds from submission.
BGC does not operate within broker chains exceeding three parties. BGC counts as one party regardless of internal co-broker structure.
Every counterparty is screened against OFAC, EU, UN, and OFSI sanctions lists before any documentation advances. Cleared status is a prerequisite.
Commission is earned at close and protected under IMFPA. Any solicitation of advance fees in BGC's name is fraudulent.
BGC does not overstate mandate certainty or documentation readiness. Counterparties are told exactly where a position stands — including when documentation has not yet been received.
Negative definition is often more credible than positive claims. These are BGC's hard limits — and a checklist for evaluating any broker you engage.
BGC is a non-title-taking intermediary. BGC does not buy, hold, or guarantee product. Commission is the only financial interest BGC holds in any transaction.
BGC does not operate as a fourth or subsequent party in any chain. If a deal requires four broker layers to reach a principal, BGC is not the right partner.
BGC makes no representation as to supply availability, pricing, or delivery timelines before a verified SCO is on the table. Brokers who do are selling fiction.
No registration fees, processing fees, or advance charges of any kind. Commission is agreed in writing via IMFPA before documentation is exchanged — and earned at close.
Trust infrastructure in established industries didn't arrive with the industries. It was built afterward, when the cost of operating without it became clear. FICO came after consumer credit. UL came after product liability. SWIFT came after correspondent banking chaos. D&B came after opaque business identity.
BGC is building the equivalent for petroleum brokerage — starting with the ClearBridge Protocol as the verified submission and introduction layer, and developing toward C3 (Commodity Compliance Certificate) broker credentialing as the professional standard the market eventually requires. The business is designed to eventually operate as a self-sustaining platform, independent of any single person.
Learn About ClearBridge → Submit a Mandate →