CLS Group, the Risk Management and operational services provider for the global FX market, announced today that FirstRand, one of South Africa’s largest banking groups, has joined the ranks of its settlement members.
FirstRand operates mainly in nine African countries- Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Nigeria and of course South Africa. As such it plays an important role in the trading of many regional currencies, such as the rand. FirstRand now became the 64th settlement member of CLS.
“I am extremely pleased to welcome FirstRand as a CLS settlement member,” said David Puth, CEO of CLS. “This strengthens our presence in Africa and serves to confirm the critical role CLS plays in optimising risk management, operational and Liquidity efficiencies for the global FX market. Participation in CLS continues to grow and we look forward to welcoming new members as we evolve further.”
Andries du Toit, FirstRand Group Treasurer, said: “Joining CLS as a settlement member is a great boost to our clients that are active in the global FX market. The South African rand is Africa’s most actively traded currency and mitigating settlement risk is a key priority for many institutions. Participation within the CLS ecosystem will enable us to achieve this goal and help reinforce FirstRand’s position as South Africa’s financial services group of choice.”
In other news coming out of South Africa, last week the multi asset brokerage 28E Capital officially launched MT5 for its clients on the South African Futures Exchange (SAFEX).