If Brexit - the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union on March 29, 2019 - isn't on your radar, it should be.
With the annual London Metal Exchange Week now in full swing, the exchange, its members and their customers need to have contingency plans in place if they are expecting to be affected in any way by Brexit. And as with anything political, an element of brinkmanship will naturally transfer into preparations of the exchange and its stakeholders. There are six members of the LME that are incorporated in the European Economic Area (EEA) - the EU members states minus the UK plus Norway - which are Soci?(C)t?(C) G?(C)n?(C)rale, Natixis, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, ABN Amro and Hydro Aluminium. The most troublesome area LME is facing with the upcoming Brexit appears to be clearing. As it stands, the LME's clearing house, along with other UK clearing houses, will no longer be able to clear EEA-incorporated members until they become recognized central counterparty clearing houses (CCPs). That's because financial regulator European Securities and...