CLSSettlement
Central bank settlement membership
Mitigate settlement risk for your FX trades while benefiting from operational efficiencies, in addition to best-in-class netting and liquidity management. Our world-class payment-versus-payment settlement service delivers huge efficiencies and savings for our clients.
We protect our members and their clients from the most significant risk in the FX market – settlement risk. We do this by simultaneously settling payments relating to FX trades using our unique payment-versus-payment (PvP) system.
Reduce risk, improve efficiency and increase liquidity
We provide settlement services to over 70 of the world’s most important financial institutions and over 35,000 third-party participants. In addition to commercial institutions, we also offer a membership category to central banks to enable them to settle their FX transactions, while benefiting from the same risk mitigation and liquidity efficiencies as all other members.
Eligibility
We have developed specific criteria for central banks to join CLSSettlement. These have been established to mitigate liquidity, market, credit and operational risks to the settlement service, our participants and broader financial markets.
As a critical component of the global FX market, central bank participation in CLSSettlement enhances financial stability, and further reduces systemic risk and substantially strengthens our ecosystem.
Submission of payment instructions
Central bank settlement members are only eligible to submit payment instructions to CLSSettlement relating to underlying transactions entered into by the central bank, on behalf of or as agent for another central bank, or relating to its role as fiscal agent for the government. They cannot submit instructions to CLSSettlement on behalf of a commercial bank.
1Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Danish krone, euro, Hong Kong dollar, Hungarian forint, Israeli shekel, Japanese yen, Korean won, Mexican peso, New Zealand dollar, Norwegian krone, Singapore dollar, South African rand, Swedish krona, Swiss franc, UK pound sterling and US dollar.
70+
settlement members
35,000+
participants around the world use our services indirectly through our settlement members
6.5+ USD trillion
average settled each day
18
of the most actively traded currencies globally1
Systemically important financial market infrastructure critical to the orderly functioning of the global FX market
Awards
- Best Clearing and Settlement Provider 2024 / 2023
- Best Settlement Initiative 2023, FX Markets e-FX 2023
- Best FX Settlement & Risk Mitigation Solution FX Markets Asia 2022 / 2021 / 2020
- Best Trading Infrastructure Provider American Financial Technology 2021
Benefits:
- Risk mitigation and management
- Capital and liquidity efficiencies
- Operational and IT efficiencies
- Direct participation in a financial market infrastructure at the center of the FX market
Membership criteria
Satisfactory demonstration of operation and technical capabilities:
- Ability to submit, amend and rescind payment instructions to CLS
- Ability to deliver funds in each eligible currency within specified times
- Adequate contingency plans for maintaining operational capabilities.
Sovereign immunity waiver
Must waive sovereign immunity.
Jurisdiction
Located within a jurisdiction for which CLS has received a satisfactory legal opinion addressing, among other things, settlement finality and netting.
Anti-money laundering requirements
Have procedures in place designed to detect illegal money laundering activities of its customers or other illegal activities.
Liquidity facilities
Have timely and adequate access to liquidity in those eligible currencies it intends to settle in CLS other than its own domestic currency.
Central bank membership associated financial costs
Central banks are eligible for membership on a fee-based basis in lieu of investing in shares of CLS Group Holdings and have no shareholder rights.
All other costs are consistent with the costs associated with settlement membership:
- Initial joining fee in lieu of shareholding investment
- Account maintenance fees
- Liquidity usage fees
- Tariff table2 applicable to all settlement members
- Costs relating to connectivity to CLS (including SWIFT interface costs).
2 More information about CLSSettlement pricing methodology can be found on cls-group.com
FX Global code
Using CLS products and services plays an integral part in helping you comply with the FX Global Code.