DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Traders work on the floor of the London Metal Exchange in London, Britain, September 27, 2018. Both explicitly allow for the cancellation of trades "in exceptional cases", which would be a fair description of last year's nickel market meltdown and the resulting threat of multiple member defaults. This is a case of "knowing one when you see one" or "the elephant test" in legal precedent, the judges said. Nor would it have affected Chamberlain's assessment that nickel trading had become irrational and disorderly on the morning of March 8. LME trading has been transformed by the crisis in the form of permanent caps on time-spreads and limits on intraday price movements.

Persons: Simon Dawson, Elliott, Jonathan Swift, Robert Bright, Matthew Chamberlain, Jane Street, Chamberlain, China's, Xiang Guangda, Oliver Wyman, Tsingshan, Barbara Lewis Organizations: London Metal Exchange, REUTERS, London High, Elliott Associates, Jane, Global Trading, Financial, Authority, China's Tsingshan, Reuters, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, U.S

☆ Bank of England central counterparty stress tests confirm resilience
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Bank of England is seen in the City of London, Britain, February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The Bank of England on Wednesday said results of stress tests on central counterparties (CCPs) showed continued resilience at the businesses, which help clear and settle trades in financial instruments and commodities essential for the global economy. "The results confirm the continued resilience of UK CCPs to market stress scenarios that are of equal and greater severity than the worst-ever historical market stresses," said Sarah Breeden, the BoE's Deputy Governor for Financial Stability. The stress tests covered three central counterparties which operate in Britain, ICE Clear Europe Limited (ICE.N), LCH Limited, a part of LSEG (LSEG.L), and LME Clear Limited, owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (0388.HK). The BoE said it would use the findings "to support and inform its ongoing supervision and regulation of UK CCPs".

Persons: Hannah McKay, Sarah Breeden, BoE, William James, David Milliken, Sarah Young Organizations: of, City of, REUTERS, Bank of England, Financial Stability, ICE Clear Europe, LCH, LME Clear, Hong Kong Exchanges, Clearing, HK, LME, Thomson Locations: of England, City, City of London, Britain, LSEG, LME Base

A net 1,400 lots of short positions were covered by the time the market was suspended at 08:15. Xiang Guangda, the charismatic head of China's Tsingshan Holding Group, has attracted much media attention for being the big nickel short. The existence of at least once big nickel short wasn't exactly a secret in the market. LME nickel crisis had turned into potential LME clearing house crisis with Chamberlain having to juggle both parts of the meltdown while also being a nickel market specialist. The handful that remained, as one participant later recalled, knew nothing whatsoever about what was going on in the nickel market so decided to call everyone else back into the room.

Persons: Elliott, Street, Matthew Chamberlain, Chamberlain, Jane Street, Oliver Wyman's, Xiang Guangda, wasn't, Oliver Wyman, John Maynard Keynes, Xiang, doesn't, David Evans Organizations: London, Royal, of Justice, Hong Kong Exchanges, HK, Elliott Associates, Jane, Global, Tsingshan Holding, SEE, Bloomberg, Thomson, Reuters Locations: U.S, Ukraine

The world's largest and oldest metals market annulled all nickel trades in March last year after chaotic price action and suspended trading for the first time since 1988. "That the FCA has decided to investigate means it considers there are circumstances suggesting that LME may have committed serious misconduct. ACTIVE STEPSThe 146-year-old LME said it had taken active steps to enhance nickel market liquidity and transparency, including 15% daily price limits and over the counter (OTC) position reporting for all physically delivered metals. The FCA and Bank of England began a review last April into the trading halt by the LME, owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388.HK). In January management consultants Oliver Wyman released an independent review of the nickel trading debacle and the exchange said it would set out an implementation plan for the report's recommendations by the end of March.

The four each held a sizeable short position of between 13,000 and 24,000 lots, equivalent to 78,000 to 144,000 tonnes. LME warehouses held just 80,088 tonnes of nickel stocks when Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The mix of producer hedging and speculative overlay in the short position landscape is impossible to know with any precision. It's worth remembering that Tsingshan is itself a huge nickel producer, albeit not in a form that can be delivered against an LME short position. Excerpt from Oliver Wyman reportLATE ARRIVALThe shorts were not helped by the rapid build-up of a long position on March 7 which the report links to "one financial client with no material existing nickel position".

LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - It's not the first time the 145-year-old London Metal Exchange (LME) has found itself in crisis. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterMarch brought Nickel Crisis II, a much scarier update of the original, and now we have the unfolding Russian Metal Crisis. It's perilous legal territory and would have a significant impact on LME price and physical premiums. Meanwhile, CME's (CME.O) cobalt contract has steadily built up liquidity since its end-2020 launch even as activity in the LME's contract has steadily dwindled. Disgruntled funds have already voted with their feet, the collective departure causing LME trading volumes to slide by 6% over the first nine months of this year.

☆ Bank of England says stress test shows UK counterparties 'resilient'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The Bank of England said on Thursday that the central counterparties (CCPs) in Britain's financial system were "resilient" after publishing the conclusions of its first public stress test for ICE Clear Europe, LCH and LME Clear. "While the stress test was exploratory, with no pass-fail assessments, the results are evidence of the overall resilience of the UK CCPs," BoE Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said in a statement. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe BoE said it checked whether the CCPs were resilient to a market stress scenario and to the simultaneous default of the two largest clearing member groups. The exercise started in October 2021 and was designed to be as severe as the worst historical market stress scenario experienced by each CCP up to that point. "We will engage these CCPs on our findings, which will help the Bank target its supervision and inform CCPs' approach to risk management," Cunliffe said.

Search resuls for: "LME Clear"

7 mentions found