CLS welcomes Fifth Third Bank to CLSSettlement

By Edlyn Cardoza

CLS, a financial market infrastructure delivering settlement, processing, and data solutions across the global FX ecosystem, recently announced that Fifth Third Bank, National Association (Fifth Third), can access CLSSettlement as a third-party participant. UBS, a CLS settlement member, will provide access to Fifth Third.

The addition of Fifth Third, one of the largest banks in the midwestern United States, represents a significant step forward in CLSSettlement adoption by the US regional banking sector.

CLS continues to witness increased uptake of CLSSettlement across the FX industry – especially third-party participation, which accounted for 90% of new business growth in 2021. This growth is due to market participants’ greater focus on settlement risk mitigation and their drive to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs. In addition, CLSSettlement supports market participants’ adherence to FX best practices as outlined in the FX Global Code, which includes using payment-versus-payment settlement services wherever practicable.

Lisa Danino-Lewis, Chief Growth Officer, CLS, commented, “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.”

Bob Tull, Fifth Third’s Global Head of Fixed Income, Commodities and Currencies (FICC), said, “Our participation in CLSSettlement allows Fifth Third to further advance our FX platform. Not only will CLSSettlement enable Fifth Third to further mitigate settlement risk and reduce operational costs related to FX trading, but CLS creates opportunities for us to expand our business and enhance our client experience by having access to a wider pool of counterparties.”

Christian Stolcke, Global Head of Banks at UBS, added, “We’re 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’s important to help our regional bank clients access CLSSettlement to free up liquidity while allowing them to expand their current FX relationships.”