CLS Hits All-Time Record: $2.765 Trillion Daily FX Settlement as Volumes Surge 24% Year-on-Year

CLS reported its highest-ever average daily settlement volumes in January 2026, with all products reaching $2.765 trillion - up 16% from December 2025 and 24.4% year-on-year. The record underscores CLS's central role as the primary payment-versus-payment settlement utility for foreign exchange markets.

Volume Breakdown

FX swaps drove the majority of settlement activity, averaging $1.839 trillion daily - the second-highest level ever recorded for the product category. FX swaps are the most actively traded instrument in global FX markets, used primarily by banks and institutional investors for short-term funding and hedging.

CLSNet, the bilateral payment netting service, processed an average of $169 billion in Q4 2025, including a single-day record of $664 billion netted on December 17, 2025. CLSNet extends CLS's risk mitigation to currency pairs and counterparties not eligible for CLS Settlement, providing netting calculations and payment confirmation for emerging market and restricted currencies.

Market Context

The volume surge reflects broader FX market dynamics. Global FX turnover has been driven higher by interest rate divergence across major economies, geopolitical hedging demand, and the continued growth of algorithmic and electronic trading that generates higher transaction counts. The January spike aligns with seasonal patterns, as portfolio rebalancing and new allocation decisions at the start of the year typically drive elevated volumes.

CLS settles transactions in 18 currencies through its payment-versus-payment mechanism, which eliminates settlement risk - the risk that one party delivers its currency while the other defaults. The Bank for International Settlements has estimated that global FX settlement risk affects approximately $2.2 trillion daily in transactions that lack adequate risk mitigation. CLS's record volumes suggest that for the major currency pairs it covers, the industry continues to concentrate settlement through the risk-managed utility.

Membership Expansion

The volume records follow CLS's addition of three new settlement members in 2025, including ABN AMRO's return to the platform. The expansion of the membership base contributes to higher settlement volumes by bringing more bilateral trading relationships into the CLS settlement pool.