Ohio-based bank Fifth Third Bank National Association (Fifth Third) has been accepted as a third-party participant on CLS’ CLSSettlement platform.
The addition of Fifth Third, one of the largest banks in the US Midwest, to CLS’ platform, represents a significant step forward in CLSSettlement adoption by the US regional banking sector.
International bank UBS, a CLS settlement member, will provide client access to Fifth Third.
CLS continues to witness increased uptake of CLSSettlement across the foreign exchange (FX) industry – especially third-party participation, which accounted for 90 per cent of new business growth in 2021, says the financial services group.
This growth is due to a greater focus on settlement risk mitigation by market participants and their drive to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs, it adds.
CLSSettlement supports market participants’ adherence to FX best practices, which include the use of payment-versus-payment settlement services.
Lisa Danino-Lewis, chief growth officer, CLS, comments: "We are delighted that Fifth Third has chosen to use CLSSettlement. With the growth in FX trading, settlement risk has become an increasing concern for both the public and private sectors. As a result, it is essential that all market participants – buy side or sell side – implement appropriate FX risk mitigation services such as CLSSettlement.”
Christian Stolcke, global head of banks at UBS, says, “We are pleased to be able to work with Fifth Third to mitigate FX settlement risk through CLS. In times of increasing intraday funding and liquidity costs, we believe it is important to help our regional bank clients access CLSSettlement to free up liquidity, while allowing them to expand their current FX relationships.”
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