CLS Volumes and Values of FX Trades Down in December 2013, Volumes Plummet 9.4%

CLS Bank, the global provider of settlement systems to foreign Exchange participants, has reported trading metrics for the month of December. The figures were in line with the general market, with the month of December slowing down due to the festive period.

The bank reported that their average daily volume submitted to CLS, combining the settlement and aggregation services, was 988,674 down 9.6% from 1,094,020 in November.

The average daily value submitted to CLS was US$4.87 trillion, down 0.4% from US$4.89 trillion in November.

Since inception CLS has come a long way in developing the FX Payments framework. In 2004, the firm endorsed a best practise mechanism for counterparties to remove the need for MT300s (MT300s are FX confirmations).

CLS offers settlement in 17 currency pairs, in the first phase of the system's launch in 2002 there were seven currencies available including: Euro, US dollar, Sterling, yen, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar and Australian dollar.

In November, CLS made amendments to its global board of directors, at an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders held earlier this month (Monday, 4 November, 2013) in Zurich.

The firm reported that Hirochika Iwadare was elected as a Board of Director. David Puth, CEO of CLS commented about the new role: "We highly value our relationships with Shareholders and Settlement Members in Japan and recognize the yen as an important and growing currency. Mr. Iwadare’s extensive experience in the FX market in Japan and his counsel with respect to the Asia-Pacific market will strengthen our existing relationships and support CLS as it expands FX settlement services into the region."