The risks in metals trading are different from those in the financial markets, and if European Union (EU) regulation is not tailored accordingly, we could see irreparable damage to the wider industry, said the London Metal Exchange (LME) in a white paper released at the LME Regulation Seminar on 12 October 2015.
“The LME supports EU regulators’ aims to increase transparency and reduce risk in the markets. However, requiring the metals industry to comply with regulation that is designed for other, completely different, asset classes may stifle participants’ ability to create global reference prices and manage their price risk,” said Garry Jones, LME CEO.
The wide scope of the new rules means many in the LME markets, such as commodity traders, could face stringent new EU rules for the first time. However, in its paper the LME says it seems little attention has been focused – by regulators, and to some extent the industry – on how the new rules will affect the metals markets in particular.
“The LME is working with regulators to ensure that the cumulative effect of these rules on the metal trading community is not underestimated. Meanwhile, the implementation dates of many of these rules are rapidly approaching, and participants throughout the metals value chain should be thinking about what the changes mean for their business,” said Kirstina Combe, Head of Regulation.
The LME’s white paper, European regulatory change: What it means for the metals market, assesses the impact on the LME market of the EU’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, Market Abuse Regulation,Benchmark Regulation and European Market Infrastructure Regulation. It is available on lme.com/regulation.