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As a principal-to-principal market, the only organisations able to trade contracts on the LME are its member firms, of which there are various categories. LME members provide industry with access to the market and to the delivery mechanism.
Prospective users of the Exchange can be assured that they are dealing with professional, recognised and experienced trading firms who are fully regulated for the capital and conduct of their business. Regulation of the market is carried out by the LME while the UK’s Financial Services Authority is responsible for regulating the business of LME members.
The LME provides the flexibility of three trading platforms; which operate side-by-side:
 Ring trading
1145 to 1700 hours, London Time
Open-outcry is the oldest and most popular way of trading on the Exchange. It is central to the process of ‘price discovery’, a term used to describe the way LME official prices are established. These prices are derived from the most liquid periods of trading; the short open-outcry ‘ring’ trading sessions, and are most representative of industry supply and demand. The official settlement price, on which contracts are settled, is determined by the last offer price before the bell is sounded to mark the end of the official ring.
 LME Select
0100 to 1900 hours, London Time
LME Select is the official Exchange-operated electronic trading platform. LME member firms are connected to the LME Select system which allows accredited traders to execute trades electronically. It allows for straight-through processing in which LME Select trades are automatically sent to the matching and clearing systems operated by LCH.Clearnet.
The system also enables LME members to connect their clients directly to the LME Select trading system via third party applications, a process known as ‘order-routing’.
 Telephone trading
24 hours a day
The Exchange also supports an inter-office telephone market between LME members which operates 24 hours a day.
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