Lloyd's introduces four new settlement currencies

London - Lloyd's is to offer settlement in an additional four currencies with effect from September 1. The move to include Australian Dollars, Japanese Yen, South African Rand and Swiss Francs in the settlement process will save underwriters around �2.5m a year by removing the broker from the conversion chain and enabling more pooling of currency transactions. The Currency Conversion Service (CCS) which was established at the beginning of the year for settlements in euros is said to be a key feature of the new service. It will allow managing agents to choose between settling in the new currencies or using the CCS and continuing to settle in Sterling. The banking facility to support the service was awarded to Citibank after a competitive tender of four banks.