“伦镍诉讼”初审判决可能侵蚀集中清算合同权利  

First-instance Ruling in"London Nickel Litigation"may Erode Centralized Liquidation Contract Rights

作　　者：刘月[1] LIU Yue(Law School Peking University)

机构地区：[1]北京大学法学院

出　　处：《金融市场研究》2024年第5期78-87,共10页Financial Market Research

摘　　要：2022年3月,伦敦金属交易所(LME)频繁采取暂停交易、取消已达成的交易等措施,引发市场震动,被称为“伦镍事件”。2022年6月,两家对冲基金起诉LME及LMEClear,认为取消交易属于越权行为并侵犯了自身的财产权益(简称伦镍诉讼)。2023年11月,英国高等法院做出初审判决,判定LME和LMEClear胜诉,认为在中央对手方完成内部核验和确认之前的协议不具备经济价值,当事人也不存在合法期待利益。相关裁判观点可能影响中央对手方清算框架下市场参与者对交易稳定的期待利益,也不符合保护终端用户以套期保值为目的的衍生品交易的立法及监管理念,值得关注。建议国内在发展期货及关联衍生品业务时,以“伦镍事件”为鉴,梳理中央对手方介入合同的时点,研究中央对手方清算运转过程中的不同合同权利,在场外交易主协议框架中补充清算失败的法律后果,防止极端情形下的关于合同权利争议。In March 2022,the London Metal Exchange(LME)made repeated market interventions,suspending trading and canceling transactions,thereby causing a major market shock known as the"LME Nickel Incident".Two hedge funds sued the LME and LME Clear in June 2022,and the UK High Court made a preliminary judgment in favor of the LME and LME Clear in November of the following year.In the process of demonstrating the legality and rationality of the cancellation of transactions,the judgment analyzed in detail the clearing process and effectiveness of contracts in the centralized clearing mechanism.It concluded that any agreement before the central counterparty completed internal verification and confirmation did not have economic value,and the parties therefore had no legitimate expectation of an economic benefit.The views expressed in the judgment were considered to be groundbreaking,departing from the prevailing concept of"trade matching is a commitment to clearing"in futures trading.It also was inconsistent with the concept of protecting end-users in carrying out derivatives trading for the purpose of hedging as embodied in legislation and regulatory policies in a number of countries.In the development of a comprehensive clearing service in China's futures trading,the London Nickel Incident should be taken as a reference.It is necessary to determine the time of any central counterparty intervention,study the different forms of contract effectiveness in the clearing mechanism,and address the legal consequences of clearing failure in the main agreement framework of over-the-counter transactions,so as to prevent complicated disputes over the establishment or effectiveness of a contract under extreme market conditions.

关 键 词：伦镍事件 合同权利 中央对手方 

分 类 号：D92[政治法律—法学]