Over the last year, LCH ForexClear has launched initiatives aimed at safeguarding clearing members’ interests and supporting general market and financial stability through its operations.
This has included LCH ForexClear supporting the November 2023 launch of LSEG’s NDF Matching, backed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. This platform was the first to incorporate participants’ pre-trade intent to clear non-deliverable forward (NDF) trades, combining liquidity, execution, operational and capital benefits. Additionally, in March 2024, NDF Matching on a regulated swap execution facility went live, following the registered market operator venue that was launched in November 2023. These initiatives have further expanded access to the platform’s integrated clearing and full liquidity benefits for participants.
Furthermore, during the review period, LCH ForexClear expanded its service by onboarding 24 new clients, reaching a total of 84 clients and 41 member entities. It added United Overseas Bank (UOB) and BBVA as direct clearing members, with UOB being the first southeast Asian bank to join. In July 2023, ForexClear cleared Axis Bank’s first NDF trade, reflecting the growing participation of Indian banks in clearing.
These initiative have paid off, as LCH ForexClear experienced record service volumes over the review period, clearing a total of $36 trillion in both deliverable and non-deliverable FX. This included $4 trillion in FX options and $968 billion in client NDFs. Growth continued in 2024, with notable increases in May: NDF average daily volume (ADV) up 34% to $109 billion; FX options ADV up 81% to $16 billion; and client NDF ADV up 66% to $4 billion.
Andrew Batchelor, head of LCH ForexClear, says: “This has brought together the benefits of a central limit order book and clearing for the first time, highlighting our commitment to making FX clearing an integral part of FX trading.”
