CLSSettlement was introduced in 2002 to mitigate the largest risk in FX – settlement risk. ANZ was among the first Australian banks to go live on the service, as well as one of the six inaugural Asia Pacific banks to settle FX transactions on the system.

Research from the Bank for International Settlements Quarterly Review (December 2019¹) concluded that a significant percentage of FX trades in CLS-eligible currencies are being settled without any PvP protection, putting a large proportion of market participants at risk. ANZ bringing onboard all 18 CLS currencies on CLSSettlement sets a strong precedent to other banks in the region to continually explore ways to mitigate FX settlement risk, which is becoming an increasing focus for regulators and industry bodies.

Margaret Law, Head of Client Management, APAC at CLS, commented: “With the growth of FX trading particularly in Asian currencies, settlement risk has become an increasing concern for banks in the region, and it is essential that they consider executing appropriate FX settlement risk mitigation measures. We anticipate that other banks in Asia Pacific will follow ANZ’s lead and reduce their principal risk as much as possible by settling FX transactions through financial market infrastructures, like CLS, that provide PvP arrangements.” 

Joachim Mies, Markets Chief Operating Officer at ANZ Banking Group Limited, added: “Extending our CLSSettlement capabilities across all CLS-eligible currencies provides a unique offering for customers in the region who require the mitigation of FX settlement risk. We believe this is a key differentiator for ANZ, and for our customers - particularly in the funds management space.”

1. https://www.bis.org/publ/qtrpdf/r_qt1912.htm