A lawsuit against the London Metal Exchange will be heard in the London High Court from June 20-22.
Lawyers representing Paul Singer’s fund Elliot Investment Management and trading firm Jane Street will be in the High Court in London on Tuesday to argue their case against the London Metal Exchange (LME) over their decision to suspend trading and cancel billions of dollars worth of nickel trades in March 2022,
Elliot Investment Management had reportedly built up a bullish position on the metal ahead of the crisis. Elliott declined to comment, and the hedge fund hasn’t publicly disclosed all the details of its nickel position.
“Elliott’s commodities trading strategy aims to exploit mispricings in the forward curves of certain commodities, as well as taking directional positions based on its views of the prices levels and trends. Elliott primarily trades crude oil and oil products, natural gas, power, precious and base metals, and agricultural commodities. Elliott trades actively in the U.S. and Europe”
— Elliott Investment Management
The LME argues that the case has “no merit” and that, if they had not cancelled the nickel trades, several firms would have been unable to meet margin calls, resulting in “significant and systemic damage to the metals industry.”
Paul Singer is no stranger to legal action, most famously winning a 14-year fight to ensure Argentina make full payments to holdout bondholders after defaulting on it’s debt in 2002.
This is the latest legal action against the LME as it fights for relevance, trust and survival. Our analysis: