LONDON: The London Metal Exchange (LME) yesterday trimmed a proposed average increase in transaction fees to 31 percent from 34 percent after complaints by members.
The LME said that it made the changes following feedback from members and because of its commitment to open-outcry trading and to support the price discovery process. The 137-year-old LME had announced the fee increase in September as its owner moved to boost profit from the world’s biggest industrial metals market after a costly takeover.
The LME’s owner, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, had splashed out $2.2bn to buy the exchange, a price that analysts said was very expensive. But some LME members objected to the fee increase, saying it would be likely to force brokers and banks to ditch some commission-free terms and review their business models.
The tariff structure included a significant discount on “ring” trading after the LME said in June it would keep open-outcry trading, bucking a trend by most other markets to shift to all-electronic operations.Reuters
