Quest for cheaper metals trading driving move to start LME rival

London

IN the face of sliding volumes and tougher regulation, the London Metal Exchange (LME) may be getting a new challenge: more competition.

Martin Abbott, who orchestrated the LME's sale to Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd, is now leading a group of brokers to study alternatives to the exchange. Brokers on the exchange are concerned that trading has become too expensive and there is a "disconnect" between metal markets and users, Mr Abbott said.

"There is certainly more dissatisfaction with the LME and its fee structure and general attitude than I can ever recall," Malcolm Freeman, a director of West Malling, England-based brokerage Kingdom Futures Ltd who has been in the metals business for more than three decades, said last week. "It seems to many clients that a…