Clearing Services Analyst

The London Metal Exchange (LME) and LME Clear form the world centre for industrial metals trading and clearing, with the majority of all non-ferrous metal futures business transacted on our platforms. In 2022, 134.2 million lots were traded and cleared, equating to $15.2 trillion and 3.1 billion tonnes notional, with a market open interest high of 1.8 million lots. The metals community uses the LME and LME Clear platforms to transfer or take on price risk, for clearing and settlement services, as a physical market of last resort and as the provider of transparent global reference prices. The LME and LME Clear are HKEX Group companies.

Overall Purpose of Role

A highly motivated and detail-oriented Clearing Services Analyst to join our growing team, focusing on clearing services, position management and risk operations activities for LME Clear. This role is crucial in ensuring the smooth and efficient operation of our clearing activities, particularly within the dynamic LME market. This position offers an excellent opportunity to gain exposure to all facets of clearing and risk operations within a CCP environment, with significant growth potential.

Key Responsibilities

• Clearing Services & Position Management: End-to-end management of the clearing lifecycle for LME trades, including trade validation, position management, contract expiry, settlement processing, option exercise and assignment. Oversight of daily and expiry-related position movements, ensuring accuracy of cleared positions and timely escalation of discrepancies. Coordination and execution of the physical delivery process, including monitoring delivery intentions, key deadlines, documentation flows and settlement events. Proactive management of static data (members, contracts, calendars and associated attributes), ensuring data integrity across clearing and downstream systems. Ownership of defined clearing processes, controls or reconciliations, with accountability for timely resolution of breaks or operational issues.
• Risk Operations: Day-to-day processing and monitoring of margin requirements, including initial margin, additional margin and intraday margin calls through to settlement. Development and application of a strong working knowledge of core CCP risk methodologies, including margin models, stress testing and Default Fund contributions. Analysis of margin movements and risk sensitivities, supporting investigation, explanation and escalation of material changes. Building a practical understanding of LME pricing methodologies and the interaction between pricing, corporate actions and operational events such as expiry and delivery. Active engagement with clearing members to respond to margin, pricing and risk-related queries in a clear, professional and timely manner.
• Payment Services & Collateral Management: Ownership and day-to-day management of clearing member collateral movements, including monitoring margin calls, receipts, returns and substitutions across eligible collateral types. Instruction, validation and release of payment movements via SWIFT, ensuring accuracy, timeliness and adherence to agreed cut-off times and payment controls. Close coordination with Treasury, Risk and SPS banks to ensure the effective settlement of cash movements and the integrity of member accounts. Investigation and resolution of payment breaks, failed settlements or exceptions, with appropriate escalation of operational or financial risk. Maintenance of strong control discipline, including dual controls, reconciliations and audit-ready documentation in line with regulatory and CCP standards.
• Default Management: Support default management activities by executing defined clearing and risk operational actions in line with the Default Management Framework. Participation in default simulations, testing and readiness activities to support the firm’s operational resilience and regulatory obligations. Close collaboration with Risk, Legal, Treasury and external counterparties during stressed or default scenarios to ensure accurate execution and communication.
• Operations Change & Continuous Improvement: Identification of operational risks, control gaps and inefficiencies within clearing and risk processes, with input into control design and remediation. Active contribution to process improvement initiatives, including automation, use of data analytics and enhancement of controls and reporting. Support delivery of system enhancements, new products or regulatory change initiatives, including testing, implementation and post-go-live support. Maintenance of up-to-date procedures and documentation for owned processes.
• Relationship & Stakeholder Management: Build and maintain effective working relationships with internal stakeholders across Clearing, Risk, IT, Finance and Operations. Act as a knowledgeable point of contact for clearing members, custodians and banks on operational queries, escalating issues where appropriate. Communicate operational issues, risks and key events clearly and confidently to stakeholders, demonstrating sound judgement and attention to detail.

Clearing Services – Core Clearing Operations and BAU Shift Pattern Coverage: The Clearing Services role operates on a rotating shift pattern to support the core clearing and risk operations of LME Clear across the full trading and post-trade lifecycle. Shifts are designed to provide effective coverage across the LME and LME Clear business day (currently between approximately 7:00am and 10:00pm), and to ensure continuity of service during key market events, including intraday margin cycles, expiry, delivery and settlement activities. The role requires strong handover discipline between shifts, with clear ownership of outstanding issues, controls and operational risks to ensure continuity and resilience. Flexibility is required to support peak periods, market stress events, system incidents or exceptional operational requirements.

BAU & Core Clearing Focus: The role is heavily weighted toward Business-as-Usual (BAU) activities, with primary accountability for the accurate, timely and controlled execution of core clearing and risk operations. Daily responsibilities include processing and oversight of clearing, position management, margining, settlement, delivery and related control activities, ensuring all critical processes are completed within defined SLAs. The role requires consistent execution in a high-volume, time-critical environment, with a strong focus on control, risk awareness and operational discipline. While contributing to change initiatives and automation where appropriate, the primary emphasis remains on operational stability, accuracy and adherence to established clearing frameworks. Individuals are expected to develop deep expertise in their assigned BAU processes, demonstrate sound judgement under time pressure and act as a reliable point of reference during routine operations and market events.