Corporate finance, trade and logistics, from Geneva to Lyon

We advise companies whose money and goods cross the Swiss–EU border: on financing and treasury, on trade finance and customs, and on the warehouses, routes and controls that keep both in order.

Speak with usSee our services
Two rivers of different colours meeting and flowing side by side
Two currents, one course.
I

Named after the Rhône

The Romans called the Rhône Rhodanus. It rises at the Rhône Glacier in Valais, passes through Lake Geneva, leaves the lake at Geneva and meets the Saône at Lyon before reaching the Mediterranean. In antiquity it was the main trade route from the Mediterranean into east-central Gaul. We took our name from it because our work sits on the same line: between Swiss finance and the French and European market for goods.

Geneva handles the financial side: corporate finance, treasury, working capital and trade finance. Lyon handles the physical side: supply-chain design, distribution, customs and cross-border trade. Most of our engagements need both, and the two offices work on them as one team.

Lake Geneva at first light
II

Finance in Geneva

A freight train crossing an alpine viaduct
III

Trade and logistics from Lyon

A container barge in morning mist
IV

How an engagement runs

We agree the question before we agree the scope. Every engagement has a named deliverable, a fixed review point and a team drawn from both offices where the work requires it.

  1. Define the decision

    We start with the decision the client has to take, its deadline and who signs it off. Scope, data requests and fees follow from that.

  2. Read the documents and the numbers

    Contracts, bank facilities, customs declarations, ledgers and warehouse data. We work from source records and state where they are incomplete.

  3. Set out the options

    Each option comes with its cost, its regulatory consequences and its effect on cash. We say which one we would choose and why.

  4. Hand over in working order

    Policies, models and procedures are handed to the people who will run them, with a short period of support once they are in use.

A walnut desk with a brass pen in window light
V

Finance and logistics read from the same ledger

In most companies the treasurer and the head of logistics report to different people and look at different systems. Yet inventory is working capital, a delayed customs clearance is a delayed receivable, and a sanctions hit on a vessel stops a letter of credit. We think the two disciplines belong in one conversation, and we staff our work that way.

Over the next few years the rules governing trade between Switzerland and the EU will change on both sides: a new Swiss–EU package of agreements is before the Swiss Parliament, EU customs is being reorganised around a central data hub, and CBAM and AMLA bring new reporting and supervision. We intend to be the firm that companies in this corridor call when those changes reach their contracts, their warehouses and their balance sheets.

Two rivers joining at the southern tip of Lyon at dawn

Who we advise

Commodity trading and shippingTraders in energy, metals and agricultural goods, and the companies that ship and inspect them. Our work covers trade finance, sanctions screening and the controls lenders expect.
Industrial manufacturingManufacturers importing components and raw materials into the EU or exporting from Switzerland. Customs, origin, CBAM and working capital are usually on the same agenda.
Consumer goods and distributionBrands and distributors serving France and neighbouring markets from regional warehouses. We work on network design, 3PL contracts and the cost of serving each channel.
Life sciences and chemicalsCompanies with regulated, high-value products moving between Swiss and EU sites. Temperature-controlled logistics, customs valuation and transfer pricing documentation tend to meet in the same file.
Asset managers and family officesInvestment firms with SFDR disclosure duties and investors who need clear due diligence on mid-market companies. We provide financial analysis and sustainability data review.

The kind of work we take on

Illustrative engagements, described without client names.

Refinancing a mid-sized agricultural trader

A Geneva-based trader in grains and oilseeds sees its main lender reduce its commodity finance book and needs to replace part of its borrowing-base facility.

We review the existing facility and its reporting, rebuild the borrowing-base calculation from stock and receivables data, prepare an information pack for alternative lenders and comment on the term sheets received.

A lender-ready information pack, a clear comparison of facility terms and a borrowing-base report the treasury team can produce each month.

CBAM and customs readiness for a French manufacturer

An industrial company near Lyon imports steel and aluminium parts from outside the EU and has relied on its customs broker for declarations.

We map the CBAM goods by tariff code and supplier, collect embedded emissions data, assess whether inward processing or customs warehousing would reduce duty, and set out the internal roles for the authorised CBAM declarant.

A documented CBAM process with owners and deadlines, a cost estimate for certificates, and a decision on special customs procedures.

Redesigning EU distribution for a Swiss producer

A Swiss producer of consumer goods ships to French and Benelux customers from its home warehouse and faces longer border delays and rising transport costs.

We model a regional distribution centre in the Lyon area against the current set-up, review preferential origin and the Incoterms 2020 rules in customer contracts, and assess the VAT and customs consequences of holding stock in the EU.

A costed network recommendation, revised contract terms and a customs and VAT plan for the new flow of goods.

Join a small firm with work on both sides of the border

We are hiring in Geneva and Lyon for finance, trade and logistics roles. Some positions are hybrid, and we support relocation where a role requires it.

22 open roles

A fortnightly brief on finance, trade and regulation

Short notes on central bank decisions, customs reform, sanctions updates and sustainable finance rules, written for finance directors and supply-chain heads who have ten minutes to read.

Read the brief
  • Monetary policy and currency: SNB and ECB decisions and their effect on CHF/EUR exposure
  • Customs and trade: Union Customs Code reform, the EU Customs Data Hub and Swiss–EU agreements
  • Sanctions and financial crime: FINMA notices, Swiss and EU sanctions updates, and AMLA
  • Sustainable finance: CBAM, CSRD, SFDR and the EU taxonomy
  • Banking and financial reporting: Basel III implementation, trade finance capacity and IFRS changes

Contact

For new enquiries, write to contact@rhodaneadvisory.com with a short description of the question and the timetable. We reply within two working days.

contact@rhodaneadvisory.com