Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS) is an international payment system which was launched in September 2002 for the settlement of foreign exchange transactions. In the conventional settlement of a foreign exchange transaction the exchange of the two currencies involved in the trade is not normally synchronous.
For one party to the trade there is therefore a risk that it will transfer the currency it has sold without receiving from the counterparty the currency it has bought (settlement risk). Even if a bank’s risk position vis-à-vis a counterparty is short-term, it may be many times greater than its capital. With CLS, an infrastructure has been created which eliminates settlement risk by means of a payment-versus-payment (PvP)2 mechanism.
For one party to the trade there is therefore a risk that it will transfer the currency it has sold without receiving from the counterparty the currency it has bought (settlement risk). Even if a bank’s risk position vis-à-vis a counterparty is short-term, it may be many times greater than its capital. With CLS, an infrastructure has been created which eliminates settlement risk by means of a payment-versus-payment (PvP)2 mechanism.