Standard Chartered Bank has announced the expansion of its regional custody coverage for Investors and Intermediaries from its MENA Regional hub in the Dubai International Financial Centre.
The service now covers more than 40 markets across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East along with a few select countries from other regions, making it the most comprehensive Regional Custody coverage offering of any service provider in the Middle East.
“This expansion is a clear example on how we are leveraging our network to benefit our clients and the wider region. We are already seeing intra-regional and international investment flows in the markets that we cover and this will only grow over time. Standard Chartered is committed to continue investing in our business capabilities and provide clients with an integrated set of solutions,” Farooq Siddiqi, Regional Head of Transaction Banking MENA, Standard Chartered, said.
The expanded coverage leverages the bank’s custody capabilities in Africa and enables Standard Chartered to provide custody solutions to Middle East Investors and Intermediaries in the world’s fastest growing regions.
Custody plays an integral role in the development of capital markets by providing securities market access to investors. This covers a range of services including equity and fixed income securities settlements, safekeeping, corporate actions, income and entitlements collection, cash management, reporting, and information services to clients.
“This expansion demonstrates Standard Chartered commitment to grow its Securities Services business. Through our continuous investments, integrated solutions and strong footprint across the world’s most dynamic markets, we are ideally positioned to serve securities industry participants,” Shikkoh Malik, Regional Product Head of Investors and Intermediaries, MENA, added.
Standard Chartered’s custody offering gives customers a single entry point to access custody services in multiple markets. The key benefits include a single point of contact, multiple services across multiple markets, direct access to operational support and centralised client services from within the region and the same time zone, unique coverage through on-shore presence and carefully selected third party agents. The Bank’s Regional Custody Services comes with its award-winning internet banking platform, Straight2Bank, which gives clients on-demand access to comprehensive transactional and reporting capabilities.