After three years at the helm of the world’s largest and oldest market for metals, Chief Executive for the London Metal Exchange Garry Jones resigns due to low trading volumes and a lack of strategy that led to a crisis.
Parent company Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEx) said on Monday that Jones was leaving the LME, but did not give a reason.
The London Metal Exchange did not give a comment.
Jones was made CEO in August 2013 following Chief Operating Officer Stuart Sloan’s departure last year.
Problems at the London Metal Exchange helped hamper profits at Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd (HKEx). It paid $2.2 billion for the LME in 2012. HKEx reports 2016 results on Feb. 27.
The LME was in a middle of a controversy over warehousing metals and its impact on consumers by the time Jones took over.
Replacing Jones temporarily will be LME’s 34-year old chief operating officer, Matthew Chamberlain until a permanent replacement is found. Andrew Dodsworth, the LME’s head of market operations, has been appointed interim COO.
LME volumes were affected when the firm had around 31 percent increase in fees at the beginning of 2015 that got consumers and producers to switch to over-the-counter trade instead of trading with the LME.
In 2016, LME volumes went down 7.7 percent following a fall of 4.3 percent in 2015. There was, however, a 5.6 percent fall in copper trading compared with a 26.7 percent upsurge in trade on the U.S. rival CME Group's exchange, which according to sources is easier and cheaper to use for funds.