Brokers slam LME for staying open during Queen’s funeral

THE London Metal Exchange sparked uproar yesterday for remaining open during the Queen’s state funeral.

Other financial institutions, including the London Stock Exchange, closed down.

The LME, which is owned by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), said it ‘joins those around the world’ mourning the loss of Her Majesty. But it said it would stay open because of the ‘international nature’ of its market.

The move sparked fury among the 145-year-old exchange’s metal brokers and clients, which ordered traders to work.

As well as the London Stock Exchange, all major retailers, many theme parks and tourist attractions closed for the day.

Malcolm Freeman, chief executive of brokerage Kingdom Futures, wrote on LinkedIn it was ‘appalling’ and would not have happened before the exchange fell into HKEX’s hands.

Another market participant told the Financial Times: ‘You have an exchange in the West owned by the Chinese. The manner in which they have behaved shows they have no interest in running this exchange for the benefit of anyone here.’

Another said: ‘Everybody is angry and disappointed.’

The LME will donate trading fees made yesterday to charities of which the late Queen was a patron. It said it had ‘carefully considered how best to balance the interests of the market, our operational stability and our desire to pay our respects.’