Circumvention: how intermediaries get cut out, and what an NCNDA can do

Every intermediary's fear is the same: you introduce a buyer and a seller, they meet, and you are never paid. It happens a lot in copper.

A real case (names removed)

In March 2026 a group of intermediaries spent months arranging cathode supply into a bonded dry port in Zambia. Terms were agreed: the seller's price, a paymaster arrangement for commissions and a slot at the warehouse.

Then one member of the seller's side delivered ten trucks directly to the buyer at that warehouse. The intermediaries who had built the deal were not paid. One of them summed it up afterwards: people want you to work for free for eighteen months.

What an NCNDA does

A non-circumvention, non-disclosure agreement (NCNDA) is a promise between the parties not to go around each other and not to share each other's contacts. It gives you a legal claim if it is broken.

It has limits:

• It only binds the people who signed it. A seller who never signed has made no promise to you.
• You have to prove the circumvention, usually from emails, messages and documents.
• Enforcing it across borders is slow and expensive, so it works better as a deterrent than as a remedy.

Practical steps that work better

1. Get the principal to sign, not only the next intermediary in the chain.
2. Sign an IMFPA (fee protection agreement) that names every payee, the amount per tonne or per cent, and who pays.
3. Use a paymaster where possible: commissions are paid from the transaction by a bank or a paymaster, not later as a favour.
4. Keep a dated record of every introduction: who introduced whom, and when.
5. Add value that is hard to bypass: logistics, a warehouse slot, finance, or inspection arrangements that only you control.

How Copper Supply records introductions

Every introduction on Copper Supply is timestamped. In a deal room, each party, their role, who they represent and their commission are recorded, and NCNDA and IMFPA documents can be signed in the room with an audit certificate. It doesn't make circumvention impossible, but it gives you clear evidence if it happens.