The London Metal Exchange will continue to step up its oversight of the sector in the wake of last year's chaos in the nickel market, according to the boss of its parent company Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.

Nicolas Aguzin, chief executive of HKEX, said the London-based trading floor, one of the few open outcry pits remaining across the world, remained "at the heart of the global metals industry" despite its controversial decision last March to void billions in trades as a short squeeze rocked nickel prices.