The London Metal Exchange's (LME) longtime legal chief has stepped down after seventeen years at the company. Tom Hine, who joined the LME in 2006, announced via LinkedIn on Tuesday that he was leaving the metal trading platform to set up his own consultancy venture.

The new offering, called Cambitas, will "help exchanges and market participants with rules, regulations, trading strategies, governance, enforcement," he said. Hine, who trained at Simmons & Simmons and also spent time at U.S. firm Debevoise & Plimpton, was appointed general counsel at the LME in 2010. Following the launch of LME Clear, a separate platform which provides clearing and settlement services for users of the LME in 2017, he became general counsel and head of enforcement for the LME Group.