BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB and Natixis CIB Go Live on CLS’s Cross Currency Swaps Service

WHY THIS MATTERS
The adoption of CLS’s Cross Currency Swaps (CCS) service by major banks highlights a growing industry focus on reducing settlement risk and improving liquidity efficiency in complex FX products. Cross-currency swaps carry significant exposure due to large principal exchanges, and traditional bilateral settlement models can strain liquidity and increase operational risk—especially in volatile markets.

By enabling multilateral netting and payment-versus-payment (PvP) settlement, CLS is helping institutions align with regulatory expectations and best practices under the FX Global Code. As volumes in CCS continue to rise, the need for more efficient, risk-reducing infrastructure is becoming critical to maintaining stability and resilience across global FX markets.

CLS, a financial market infrastructure group delivering settlement, processing and data solutions, today announces that BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB and Natixis CIB, three leading global financial institutions, have gone live on its Cross Currency Swaps (CCS) service. 

Due to the high value of the initial and final principal exchanges, cross currency swaps trades involve significant settlement risk exposure. In addition, settling these trades on a gross bilateral basis can result in operational inefficiencies and liquidity constraints.

CLS’s CCS service can be used seamlessly in conjunction with the post-trade processing platform OSTTRA MarkitWire to integrate CCS flows into CLSSettlement, allowing participants to benefit from multilateral netting against all FX transactions. This not only optimizes liquidity but also significantly reduces daily funding requirements. 

Demonstrating the service’s benefits, CLS’s CCS solution has experienced significant growth, with the average daily settled value of CCS flows submitted to CLSSettlement up 87% in 2025. The growth in cross-currency swap flows to CLSSettlement bolsters the efforts of policymakers and regulators to promote the widespread adoption of payment-versus-payment (PvP) as a means of reducing settlement risk. 

As FX markets evolve, demand for safe and efficient settlement mechanisms continues to grow, particularly among financial institutions seeking to align with best practices outlined in Principle 35 of the FX Global Code.1 

Lisa Danino-Lewis, Chief Growth Officer at CLS said, “BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB and Natixis CIB will all benefit from the efficiencies and risk reduction that CLS’s services provide. With increased market volatility driven by geopolitical uncertainty, the past year has highlighted the importance of sound risk mitigation and operational resilience for market participants.”

Bruno D’Illiers, Head of CIB ITO Platforms at BNP Paribas added, “Joining CLS’s Cross Currency Swaps service marks an important step in adopting best practices in our FX post-trade processes. The ability to bilaterally net and settle CCS transactions via CLSSettlement supports our broader efforts to increase operational efficiency, reduce risk, and optimize liquidity across our FX activity.”

Julien Serror, Global Head of Cross Currency Swaps and CEE at Crédit Agricole CIB said, “Mitigating settlement risk continues to be a primary focus for institutions such as Crédit Agricole CIB. Cross currency swaps in particular have a high settlement risk exposure, so we’re pleased to find a solution through CLS’s service. Making the move to multilateral netting will open up liquidity across our FX activity and support our operational efficiency – benefits our clients will be delighted with.” 

Olivier Lamy, Macro Markets – Head of Strategic Projects at Natixis CIB commented, “The CCS service is an innovative solution to the problems facing firms everywhere, and its unique PvP settlement system and netting capabilities will enhance and improve our FX operations. We believe the settlement risk, liquidity, and funding benefits that CLS’S CCS service will provide will be hugely beneficial for our business.”

FF NEWS TAKE
This is a clear step toward modernising post-trade infrastructure in FX markets. As more institutions adopt CLS’s CCS service, it signals a shift away from fragmented, bilateral processes toward centralized, netted settlement models that improve both efficiency and risk management.

It also reinforces a broader trend: in today’s environment, operational resilience and liquidity optimisation are just as important as execution. Infrastructure providers like CLS are becoming increasingly central to how institutions manage risk at scale in global markets.

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