CLS Group, the settlement services company, has announced the appointment of Alan Bozian as  chief executive.

Bozian has also been appointed as president and chief executive of CLS Bank International, succeeding Rob Close who has been in the dual post for nine years and is now retiring. The executive change is part of the group's planned succession strategy.

CLS chairman Gerard Hartsink said that Bozian brings a wealth of experience to lead the continued growth and development of CLS.

"There is an enormous opportunity for CLS to further deliver collaborative initiatives for the benefit of the FX industry," Hartsink said.

CLS Bank provides settlement for FX trades and is owned by the FX community.Today CLS is settling an average daily volume of 719,000 instructions with an average daily value of $3.9 trillion. The bank now settles in excess of 75% of the available eligible market trades and in 2009, participation in CLS increased by 70%.