The London Metal Exchange shall not increase the hours of trading available on its electronic trading platform, LME Select, outside of 07:00 to 19:00 (London time), as is currently its practice;
The effect of the OFT’s Interim Measures Direction is that the Exchange is prevented from extending the trading hours for LME Select until such time as the OFT completes its current investigation of the basis upon which the Exchange operates LME Select.
Background
In LME notice 05/228, dated 3 August 2005, notice 05/275, dated 16 September 2005, and notice 05/352, dated 23 November 2005 the Exchange announced its plans to extend the trading hours for LME Select to cover early morning trading with effect from 1 March 2006. The plan to extend the trading hours was in response to requests from LME members.
On 2 February 2006, Spectron Group plc (Spectron) asked the OFT to take urgent action to stop the Exchange from extending LME Select trading hours. In its application to the OFT, Spectron claimed that unless the OFT took urgent action to stop the LME, the extended trading hours for LME Select would seriously and irreparably harm Spectron's business.
The OFT has decided that the Exchange should be prevented from extending the trading hours for LME Select in order to protect (1) the public interest (i.e., on the OFT's case, to prevent damage to the market for the provision of platforms for exchange-based trading of non-ferrous base metals contracts) and (2) Spectron.
The OFT first received a complaint from Spectron on 1 July 2003 that the operation of LME Select by the Exchange was anti-competitive. The OFT has been conducting an investigation into the basis upon which the Exchange operates LME Select since then.
The Exchange is strenuously defending its position.
