CLS Reports Strong Start to 2025

CLS has confirmed the busy start to 2025 for the FX market by reporting its third highest settlement values since it started reporting data in 2019.

Overall the settlement service handled $2.222 trillion per day in January, second only to September and June 2024, which sit first and second respectively. Growth was driven by all three supported products, with outright forwards bouncing back strong from a December dip. This is up 9.2% from December and up 6.2% year-on-year.

Spot average daily volume (ADV) was $543 billion, in line with some of the platforms, this is the busiest January reported by CLS, representing a 14.6% rise from December, but also up 9% year-on-year. As noted, outright forwards’ activity bounced back, ADV hitting $198 billion, a 51.2% rise from December’s two-year low. Year-on-year, outrights turnover was slightly down, however, by 2.9%.

CLS’s biggest product, FX swaps, also rebounded from December, registering ADV of $1.481 trillion – also the busiest January since the service started reporting data. This is up 3.6% from December and up 6.5% from January 2024.

All three product sets’ volume was above the 2024 average, spot by $35 billion per day, outrights by $17.5 billion, and swaps by $17 billion.