The London Metal Exchange announces new fee schedule to support the ongoing programme of investment

• Tariff simplified to give all-in transaction fee in a single currency
• Discounts offered for some trade types, including Ring trades
• Supports continued investment in IT, systems and service provisions

LONDON, 29-9-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — The London Metal Exchange (LME) today announces a new fee schedule to support the ongoing programme of investment which is transforming the business. The new simplified tariff provides an all-in transaction fee with trading and clearing components, all now charged in USD, thereby aligning Exchange fees with the currency of the contracts traded. The tariff comes into effect on 1 January 2015.

The average LME transaction fee (including trading and clearing) will increase by 34%. Following the purchase of the LME by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) in 2012, significant financial commitment has already been made in the LME and LME Clear businesses. The changing regulatory environment and necessary system upgrades have called for substantial investment, which is set to continue as the LME expands its user base, launches new products and enhances its services for the global metals markets.

“Our new tariff is integral to our evolution into a truly commercial global exchange and underpins our continued investment and our next phase of expansion following the successful launch of LME Clear last week,” said Garry Jones, LME CEO and HKEx Co-Head of Global Markets. “The new LME tariff is competitive and ensures we can continue focusing on innovation and offering users the highest levels of service.”

“The introduction of a new LME tariff is a necessary step towards realising our vision of building a leading global, vertically integrated multi-asset class exchange group,” said Charles Li, Chief Executive of HKEx. “An increased revenue stream for the LME will deliver better systems, more flexibility for users and more products tailored to meet the changing needs of market users.”

The new fee structure simplifies and levels out the transaction fees across the LME user base. The tariff also includes a significant discount on trades transacted on the Ring, which reaffirms the LME’s commitment to the trading floor and recognises its vital role in the price discovery process. Recognising the ongoing feedback from the membership the LME has reduced the fee for member-to-member give-ups in absolute terms, and short-dated client carry trades continue to receive a discount in the new fee schedule. The LME Clear fee remains unchanged.

Associated documents

• Fee schedule 2015   – 29 September 2014 – PDF – 201.88 KB

Contact details

For further information or to speak to an LME spokesperson, please contact:

Miriam Heywood
+44 (0)207 264 5538
miriam.heywood@lme.com

Kathy Alys
+44 (0)207 423 5803
kathy.alys@lme.com

About the London Metal Exchange
The London Metal Exchange, a member of HKEx Group, is the world centre for industrial metals trading.

More than 80% of global non-ferrous metals business is conducted on our three trading platforms: LMEselect (electronic), the Ring (open outcry) and the 24-hour telephone market. The world’s metal community uses the LME to trade futures, options, and our latest contract, LMEswaps, to hedge against adverse price movements – prices which are discovered on our markets and used as the global reference.

Participants can trade aluminium, copper, tin, nickel, zinc, lead, molybdenum, cobalt, steel billet and two regionalaluminium alloy contracts. In 2013, 171.1 million lots were traded on the LME, the equivalent of 4.0 billion tonnes and $14.6 trillion in notional value.

At the close of the year, 7.4 million tonnes of material was held on LME warrant in 732 storage facilities across 37 locations internationally.