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LME Futures Processing Notes

LME Futures Processing Notes

Owned by Jawann Swislow
Last updated: Jan 04, 2025Version comment
2 min read

Overview

London Metal Exchange (LME) Futures use a unique prompt date structure when compared to other Futures. They cannot be closed out directly and instead must be offset with an opposite sale or purchase. Contracts are settled on prompt dates with trading ending at 12:30pm on the preceding trading day.

This document highlights specific considerations for LME Futures. Refer to Futures (FUT) Best Practices for details about general Futures processing.

Reference Data

Security Data

The following fields are critical for modeling LME Futures:

  • Primary Exchange (17) = LME (London Metal Exchange)

  • Variation Margin (4533) = No

  • Variation Margin Rule (2289) = Standard Life-to-Date

  • Prompt Date (2302): settlement date of net cash

    • This replaces a typical Future’s Expiration Date (38)

  • Last Trade Date (5076): last date trades can be entered

    • Typically the trading day prior to Prompt Date

Trade Processing

LME Futures cannot be closed through Book Trade. Instead, an offsetting open must be booked depending on whether the initial trade was long or short. These offsetting positions are netted to zero on Prompt Date.

Accounting

Early Close

There may be an operational need to remove a position from the books prior to Prompt Date, such as when a fund is closed. This is supported trough the expiration process. An LME Future must have equal long and short positions to be closed early. Submitting the event generates CLOSEFUTURE transactions for the offsetting positions. Open Accounting Center > Processing and Exceptions > Expirations & Maturities > Run Expiration Process and note the fields below.

  • Select Query Option (2283): must be One Entity/One Security or One Entity/All Securities

  • Expiration Processing Date (221): effective date of the early close

    • There must be an open accounting period for this date, otherwise the CLOSEFUTURE for the long side will fail

  • Expire Override Flag (16814) = YES

  • Reason (56): optionally enter a user-defined value that will be stored on the resulting transactions

  • User Defined Float3 (1892): optionally enter the group ID