What is a RIB?
A Registered Intermediating Broker (RIB) acts as an execution-only intermediary between buyers and sellers in the LME inter-office market. In other exchanges they are also known as inter-dealer brokers or IDBs. RIBs arrange trades in an agency capacity between market counterparties and RIBs do not become a party to the trade.
Key characteristics
- RIBs offer a cost-effective and efficient route to trade execution for new, growth and complex products
- As execution-only intermediaries they cannot hold proprietary positions, ensuring that their role remains focused solely on arranging client trades
- RIB commissions are not included in the traded market price, because a RIB cannot be a party to a trade
- The RIB system ensures anonymity throughout the lifecycle of a trade, as the identity of both the other side and their clearer is not visible at any stage of the trade, including in the event of trade cancellations and corrections after a trade has cleared.
What are the fees and charges for trading via RIBs?
The cost of trading on the LME via a RIB generally consists of the following elements:
- LME trading and clearing fees as in a normal inter-office trade (please note there are no LME give-up fees)
- Clearing member’s clearing commission – negotiated between clearing member and client
- RIB’s brokerage fees – negotiated between RIB and client
Who are the RIB members?
There are two types of RIB memberships which offer different levels of access to our markets:
- Tier 1 RIB member
- Tier 2 RIB member
The full list of RIB members can be found here.
For more information on RIB membership structure, criteria and capabilities, please see our RIB membership structure (PDF)
How can I arrange to trade via the RIB service?
There is a simple two-step process to follow:
Step 1 - Registration
The first step is to register with the LME as a user of the RIB service. This is done by submitting a completed registration form to the LME Inter-Office Trading Team . You can find and download the relevant form below:
User Set Up Form for Members (PDF)
User Set Up Form for Clients (PDF)
The form for clients allows you to specify which of your LME clearing members you want to use for the RIB service.
Step 2 - Permissioning
The second step is to contact each of your LME clearing members and request that they permission the RIB brokers of your choice in LMEsmart. If you are a trader at a self-clearing LME member please liaise with your compliance and operations teams. To support the process, we provide a standard template form downloadable here (PDF), but it is not an LME requirement to use this specific template. Clearing members may accept simple email requests or have their own templates.
Following Step 1, LME clearing members can see a record for your company and traders in the system. The LME clearing member may request additional customer information to complete the process (detailed information can be found in section 10 of the LMEsmart Member GUI Guide (PDF).
Multiple RIBs can be permissioned at the same time. New permissions will be effective from the following business day. Permissions can be removed in real time whenever necessary.
Once permissioned, a RIB can start arranging trades on behalf of the client. Every transaction will need to be approved by the LME clearing member selected for that trade before the trade can be matched and cleared.
The FAQ document provides a more detailed explanation for setting up the RIB service in Q&A format. Alternatively, please email the Global Client Development team for any questions on this process or anything else on the Registered Intermediating Broker (RIB) service.
Registration may take up to two business days to become effective.
Step-by-step summary
- Complete the customer registration form and send it to the LME Inter-Office Trading Team. Registrations may take up to two days
- Request each individual LME clearing member to permission the selected RIB(s). Authorisations become effective the following day
- Permissioned RIBs are then able to submit trades in LMEsmart on your behalf