CLS Group, a leading provider of risk mitigation and settlement services for FX dealers and institutions, on Wednesday reported its operational metrics for August 2019, which moved higher on a yearly basis but reflected a zero change across executed trade volumes when weighed against the figures of the prior month.
Average daily traded volume submitted to CLS was virtually unchanged in August 2019 month-over-month, coming in at $1.750 trillion. Across a yearly timetable, the figure reflected an advance by ten percent relative to August 2018’s figure of $1.605 trillion.
CLS reported swaps volumes at $1.198 trillion in August 2019, down from $1.251 trillion in July 2019, a fall of four percent month-over-month. However, the figure was higher by a factor of nine percent year-over-year from $1.097 trillion a year ago.
CLS shakes off image as a traditional settlement provider
In terms of CLS’ spot FX volume, the group has reported the figure at $441 billion in August 2019, up 3.8 percent relative to $425 billion in the year prior. The figure was higher also by 14 percent over a monthly basis from the $388 billion set in the previous month.
The mixed performance was again pronounced across CLS forwards business which yielded a figure of $111 billion last month, unchanged over a monthly basis, and was up 33 percent year-over-year from $83 billion in August 2018.
Last year, CLS shifted its reporting methodology for FX data. The figures are now reported based on one side of FX transactions and only one of the four legs of FX swap trades, in line with BIS standards and Foreign Exchange Committee market reports, and thus it avoids double counting the total amount of trades.
The company, which was formed in 2002 to reduce FX settlement risks, recently has been keen to promote itself as a provider of innovative products, including post-trade Risk Management , aggregation and netting solutions.
