For nearly 30 years, James Esdaile has been at the forefront of developing CPRI solutions for BPL’s client base across all its core sectors. He was appointed as BPL’s Chairman in September 2022.

A multi-sector specialist, Esdaile joined the firm in 1997 and rose through its ranks to be appointed as Chairman in 2022. Today, he is widely recognised as an esteemed CPRI thought leader and is frequently sought after to offer his insights to industry forums and publications to help advance the interests of BPL’s clients and strengthen the capabilities of the CPRI market.

Prior to this appointment, he served alongside Sian Aspinall as BPL’s Managing Director for close to seven years. During this time, he oversaw substantial business growth while successfully steering the company through many complex disruptions – such as extensive legal and regulatory reform, a global pandemic, and the increasing digitalisation of the market.

Before becoming Managing Director in 2016, Esdaile held the position of Group Director for a decade. In this role, he worked with some of the world’s largest commodity traders, servicing their high volume and time-critical business needs and ensuring that they retained their competitive edge in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

Critically, he played a major role in claims handling following the 2008 global financial crisis, successfully collecting over US$400 million of CPRI claims on behalf of clients. In light of regulatory changes, he took on responsibility for a number of BPL’s major international banking clients, working to increase understanding within the banking industry as to the benefits of the CPRI product in terms of its qualifying for capital relief.

In 2004, Esdaile was nominated to the board as a Director, just seven years after joining BPL as a graduate trainee. There, he focused on the business’ French corporate clients, arranging contract frustration insurance for exporters’ short-to-medium term business.

Esdaile holds an International Relations degree from the University of Westminster.