LME CHIEF TO STAY PUT DESPITE NICKEL CHAOS

THE boss of the London Metal Exchange has rowed back on his planned departure despite the debacle over nickel trading.

Chief executive Matthew Chamberlain was set to step aside this month ‘to pursue career interests’ outside the LME. But in a dramatic U-turn, he has vowed to stay in the job he has held since 2017.

The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), which bought the LME for £1.4bn in 2012, said the decision will ‘drive forward the LME’s long-term development’ in the global metals industry. The LME, which was set up in 1877, trades metals including nickel, cobalt and iron.

But chaos ensued in March when the nickel market was brought to a standstill after prices rocketed by 250pc in just two days to a record high of over $100,000 a tonne.

The LME suspended trading for a week and cancelled billions of pounds of business in a humiliating move.

The Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said they will look at how the LME allowed events to spiral out of control.