Nickel price chaos triggered $2bn margin breach at LME

The CCP reported its largest breach ever in March, as commodities prices went wild

LME Clear incurred a $2 billion initial margin (IM) breach in March, as nickel prices skyrocketed in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The peak breach, which considers the theoretical scenario of the largest clearing member not meeting its payment obligations, is the highest on record for the central counterparty (CCP), according to the latest publicly available figures. The previous peak breach occurred in Q4 2021, and it was $51.7 million in size.

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