(Yicai Global) March 9 -- Five institutional investors, including Switzerland's Pala Investments, are asking the London Metal Exchange and its clearing house to compensate over GBP10 million (USD11.9 million) for the damage caused by the world's largest metals bourse canceling deals a year ago amid skyrocketing nickel prices.

Hong Kong Stock Exchanges and Clearing, which runs the LME and LME Clear, has received a claim from five investors, the bourse operator said yesterday, adding that this is the second time this week that it is getting such requests from nickel traders disgruntled by the incident last March.

The five include Commodity Asset Management, Pentimon, Welton Investment Partners, and Sunrise Capital Partners. Their claim was submitted to the United Kingdom's Commercial Court and delivered to the LME and LME Clear on March 7.

Chaos unfolded when the LME halted nickel trading on March 8, 2022, as prices surged to a record high of USD100,000 a ton in the morning. It canceled all deals that day and resumed trading on March 16.

The LME has been acting in the interest of the market as it was aiming to bring the market back to the last point of time when trading was running in an orderly manner, the operator of the Hong Kong bourse said. The management of the LME and LME Clear think the latest claim is legally groundless, it added.

This adds to other requests. The LME and LME Clear have noticed that another around USD2 million compensation claim was submitted to the High Court on March 7 but not delivered to them, per the same statement.

The list continues. AQR Capital Management, DRW Commodities, Flow Traders, Capstone Investment Advisors, and Winton Capital Management want the bourse and the clearing house to pay GBP80 million due to the trading halt, the Hong Kong bourse said on March 6.

Moreover, US hedge funds Elliott Management and Jane Street filed a lawsuit against the LME in June 2022, requesting compensation of USD456 million in total for the same incident.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi