Barclays’ decision to quit floor trading at the London Metal Exchange (LME) only reflects the state of the bank and is unrelated to the bourse’s acquisition by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, according to HKEx chairman Chow Chung-kong.

Chow said the long-standing open outcry system of floor trading would continue because it had proved to be effective and authoritative.

The British bank decided on Thursday to downgrade its LME membership to Category 2 to cut costs.