Wells Fargo joins FX settlement system CLS

[July 12, 2016]  LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. bank Wells Fargo has joined the more than 60 banks worldwide that process currency transactions directly through the settlement systems run by U.S.-based lender CLS, the two banks said in a statement on Tuesday.

The sign outside the Wells Fargo & Co. bank in downtown Denver April 13, 2016. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo

CLS, owned by dozens of the world's largest commercial banks, has allowed banks over the past decade to cut the cost of insuring currency trades against the default of one of the parties.

With a number of the currency world's biggest European-based players cutting back on investment banking and the volume of financial risk they take, industry players say U.S. banks including JP Morgan have increased the share they hold in the $5 trillion market in the past year.

Wells Fargo is the world's biggest bank by market capitalization and the third largest U.S. bank by total assets.

(Writing by Patrick Graham; editing by John Stonestreet)

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