CLS Bank International said its Board of Director has endorsed “in principle” the inclusion of the South African rand as a CLS-Bank eligible currency once all the requirements in CLS Bank’s rules have been satisfied and the necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained.
As with all prospective eligible currencies, the South African rand will become eligible once the full CLS Bank and regulatory approval processes have been satisfied and the technical implementation is completed, CLS said.
“The addition of the South African rand represents another step forward for CLS Bank, continuing the expansion of the service into new markets. This is an exciting development that further demonstrates the strength of support for CLS Bank among the global banking community,” said Joseph De Feo, President and CEO of CLS Bank.
“CLS Bank Members and their customers are already benefiting from a range of risk, liquidity and efficiency benefits in eleven currencies. By the end of this year, subject to regulatory and internal approval, we aim to expand these benefits in fifteen currencies,” De Feo said.
CLS’ objective is for the currency to become eligible by the end of 2004, along with the Hong Kong dollar, New Zealand dollar and Korean won that were previously endorsed in principle by the CLS Bank Board.
Once these currencies become eligible, they will join the Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Euro, Japanese yen, U.K. pound sterling, Swiss franc, United States dollar, Danish krone, Norwegian krone, Swedish krona and Singapore dollar as CLS Bank eligible currencies.