Deutsche Postbank has selected ABN Amro to provide CSL third party settlement services for foreign exchange transactions.
The award was made after ABN Amro's global transaction services business demonstrated its ability to deliver tested CLS third party services across the German bank's global operations, says Heiko Fischer, director of Deutsche Postbank.
The Deutsche Postbank mandate is ABN Amro's first in the German market. The Dutch bank claims to be the only CLS settlement member to offer free of charge testing facilities for third parties. To date, seven leading FX providers have undergone trials and a further 40 financial institutions have signed up for the testing programme says ABN Amro.
Third party settlement in CLS is expected to begin some time in November. The 66 settlement members have already paid an up-front fee to CLS based on expected volumes and are keen to recoup this outlay by building volume and providing settlement services to other banks.