Factbox - HKEx, LME initiatives after the $2.2 billion takeover

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. <0388.HK> has launched a string of initiatives as it looks to boost volumes and recoup investment of its $2.2 billion takeover of the London Metal Exchange (LME) in 2012. INITIATIVES UNDERTAKEN - Launched in-house clearing system, LME Clear, in September 2014, to LME contracts and those on the Hong Kong bourse. - Mini copper, zinc and aluminium contracts launched on HKEx in December 2014. - Raised trading fees for LME contracts from Jan. 1 2015. - Has run platinum and palladium price benchmarks since December 2014. - The LME launched a Commitment of Traders positioning report and began publishing data on warehouse queues. - HKEx has agreed to work with China Construction Bank to develop new products. In 2011-2012 it signed MOUs with four China exchanges, including the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE). - It established a new user committee and tightened some price discovery mechanisms for ring trade. - LME Clear since July has accepted the offshore yuan as cash collateral, after receiving regulatory approval from the Bank of England. - The LME has widened access for its category 3 and 4 members to trade on its electronic platform LMEselect, to boost trading from overseas proprietary traders. INITIATIVES TO COME - HKEx's Stock Connect programme is expected to expand into commodities, mainly metals, once equity derivatives are up and running, LME CEO Garry Jones told Reuters in April. - The LME is to launch aluminium premium contracts and new ferrous products on Nov. 23. - The metals bourse plans to allow members to offset multiple notional positions in the market into a single trade, a move which may help reduce capital requirements later in 2015, ahead of new European regulations. - The LME may have to introduce rules to rein in extreme volatility to conform with other exchanges and regulatory regimes. - The LME is in talks with major bullion trading banks about reinstating end-of-day gold and silver forward curves, as part of a bigger structural change. CEO Garry Jones has noted there are no listed precious metals products in London. - HKEx plans to expand the range of its three "mini" contracts to include more base metals as well as thermal coal. - LME Clear said in September it was looking into offering collateral in LME warrants. - The LME has a long-stated goal of opening warehouses in China but has run into formidable local resistance. BOOSTING LIQUIDITY - The LME plans to launch discounts for trading big volumes of three-month, and third-Wednesday contracts in aluminium, zinc and copper. - In March, the exchange lifted the order-to-trade ratio for the Third Wednesday each month. - The LME said in January it wanted to provide a new pre-trade risk management tool on LMEselect, which will enable clearing members to set limits for all client orders. - The LME applied for foreign board of trade status in the U.S. so that its U.S. customers can trade on its electronic platforms. The regulator deferred the request because of concerns about backlogs in its warehouses. WAREHOUSE REFORM - The LME is stepping up oversight of warehousing companies and the trading companies that own them. - From May 2016, the LME will require rent for metals storage to be capped, cutting the financial incentive to maintain or create queues, in proposals under industry consultation until Aug. 17. - Warehouse companies that fail to deliver out queued metal within 30 calendar days would be required to halve the maximum published rent and after 50 days no rent could be charged at all, according to the plan. - The LME from Aug. 1 accelerated the volumes of metal to be withdrawn from some warehouses which will have to withdraw as much metal as they bring in, compared to a previous requirement to take out half of what was deposited. - The LME said in March that it will require warehouses to report incentives paid to metal owners on an anonymous basis. - The exchange has developed a new warehouse receipt system with a partner, which it intends to roll out globally and that could help advance its long held ambition to open warehouses in mainland China. (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Richard Pullin)