CLS Group reports higher FX volumes, muted change seen MoM
CLS Group, a leading provider of risk mitigation and settlement services for FX dealers and institutions, on Thursday reported its operational metrics for October 2021, which moved higher on a yearly basis.
The company also reported that the executed volumes of currency trading on its platforms were slightly up when weighed against the figures of the prior month.
Average daily traded volume submitted to CLS was virtually unchanged in October 2021 month-over-month, coming in at $1.86 trillion from $1.83 trillion in September. Across a yearly timetable, the figure reflected an advance by 9 percent relative to October 2020’s figure of $1.71 trillion.
CLS reported swaps volumes at $1.31 trillion in October 2021, up from $1.28 trillion in September 2021, a rise of 2.8 percent month-over-month. Additionally, the figure was higher by a factor of 9.6 percent year-over-year from $1.20 trillion a year ago.
In terms of CLS’ spot FX volume, the group has reported the figure at $445 billion in October 2021, up 13.5 percent relative to $392 billion in the year prior. The figure was also higher by 3 percent over a monthly basis from the $436 billion set in the previous month.
There was a mixed performance across CLS forwards business which yielded a figure of $102 billion last month, down 10 percent over a monthly basis from $114 billion, and was also lower by 13 percent year-over-year from $117 billion in October 2020.
“In October 2021, we saw average daily traded volumes of USD1.86 trillion, an increase of 9% compared to October 2020. Over the same period, changes varied by instrument: FX spot and FX swap volumes were up 13% and 10%, respectively, while FX forward volumes decreased 13%,” concludes CLS’s Global Head of Product, Keith Tippell.
CLS shifted its reporting methodology for FX data in 2018. 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.
