RJ O’Brien, the US’s largest independent futures brokerage, is to launch a full-scale brokerage for European commodities trading based in London, as the firm – one of the big winners of MF Global’s collapse – aims to capitalise on booming London commodities trading.

The firm has already hired some 10 brokers and a further five backoffice staff, a majority of them from collapsed rival futures brokerage MF Global, to launch a nascent brokerage focussed on the listed agricultural and metal futures markets.