CLS Settles Record FX Volume

Largely driven by a surge in non-spot activity, settlement services provider CLS has reported a new record for settlement volumes – the second time it has done so this year.

CLS often sees a boost to its volumes at quarter ends, and the September quarter was no different, with the service handling $2.389 trillion per day, up 9.4% from August and up 16.1% year-on-year. As noted, the surge was largely driven by non-spot volumes, something that was flagged by big jumps at 360T and LSEG FX who reported earlier, FX swaps average daily volume rose to a record $1.66 trillion, this is up 14.3% from August and up a impressive 16.1% year-on-year.

Outright forwards activity also rebounded from a couple of down months, hitting ADV of $190 billion in September, up 5% from August, but down 9.1% from September 2023, which was the second busiest recorded by CLS. Spot activity was more mixed, as foretold by the platform volume data, SDV at CLS was $539 billion, down 2% from August, but up 8.9% year-on-year.