16 October 2016

The LME Group today announces its fee schedule for 2020, which will see core trading and clearing fees rise for the first time in five years as the Exchange and Clearing House continue to invest in their core technologies and market development initiatives.

From January 2020 trading and clearing fees will rise by 8%. The increase, which mirrors the compound rate of inflation (CPI) since 2015, is also reflective of the significant investments the LME has begun to make over this period enhancing its infrastructure and functions, pursuing market development initiatives such as responsible sourcing and the increased costs related to regulatory compliance.

The increase has been applied consistently across the different classes of trading and clearing fees, which reflects market feedback that the LME fee schedule already delivers a fair balance across trading venues and carry date categories.

Matthew Chamberlain, LME Chief Executive, commented: “Since our fee recalibration exercise in 2017, where we implemented significant discounts, we have begun to invest in a number of key areas of the business, which – along with inflationary impact – has led, in our view, to a fair and proportionate new fee schedule. We are announcing the schedule two months in advance of its implementation in order to give members and clients timely visibility of the changes.”

The Financial OTC Booking Fee will also increase by the same absolute amount as a corresponding client contract – from $1.00 to $1.14 per Exchange equivalent lot – which will ensure that the Exchange and OTC fees remain fully aligned.

In addition, LME Clear today announced it will be increasing collateral charges for gold and bonds in order to better harmonise cash and non-cash collateral charges. From 1 November 2019, charges for bonds and gold will increase from 15 basis points to 20 basis points on the value of the collateral lodged.

While many of the LME’s other fees will remain the same, there are selected fee increases in other areas including market data, membership subscription fees, LMEsword and post-trade services.

~Ends~