LME Clear-ed for lift off

LME Clear, the newly-established clearing house of the LME, has received BoE approval as a CCP under EMIR. The Bank’s authorisation was the final hurdle to clear, following the 28 July approval by European central banks and regulators. LME Clear will offer clearing of all the exchanges derivative products from 22 September 2014. The LME is owned by the HKEx Group, whose CEO Charles LI said, “HKEx has made a significant investment in LME Clear and we expect it will make immediate and long-term revenue contributions to the HKEx Group.”

The LME is the world’s oldest and largest exchange for industrial metals such as copper and aluminium, and is one of the last bastions of open outcry trading. It is the second commodities clearer to receive QCCP authorisation. It joins the 11 other CCPs authorised under EMIR to date. The full list may be found on the ESMA website.