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A G E N T
B A N K S
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M A J O R
M A R K E T S ]
Australia
HSBC
No bank got more inbound responses than the inheritor of the
Westpac franchise in this market, underlining how Australia re-
mains one of the largest operations in the HSBC network in the
Asia-Pacific region. On operational issues, such as settlement,
the scoring of the bank is high, though there is variation when it
comes to asset servicing. Client service earns ordinary returns,
and there is a perception that the relationship could become
richer and more seamless, though one client sees the problem as
global rather than local. “Local relationship management more
pro-active and prompt than on group level,” writes a client.
BNP Paribas Securities Services
There is clearly nothing wrong with the way the French bank
runs relationships in this market, and it gets not only the core
banking services right but manages to impress when helping
clients in trickier fields, such as regulation. Even where it scores
less spectacularly, BNP Paribas outperforms the local and global
competition. Liquidity management, where clients see room for
improvement in cash projections and collateral management,
provides a noticeably rare blip. Information flows are also an
issue in account management, though there are predictable
gripes about onerous KYC processes (though not, interestingly,
responsiveness) as well.
Citi
This is not the largest market in the Citi clearing and custody
network, but the responses, from a small number of internation-
al banks, sport the traditional hallmarks of the bank in securities
services: efficient settlement with minimal fails and no-non-
sense technology. The clients would like lower prices and think
more could be done to trim liquidity and collateral costs, but
do not dispute the value they get. There is also a high degree of
trust in Citi as a counterparty that can keep assets and data safe,
and insulate clients from regulatory risk.
National Australia Bank
National Australia Bank (NAB) is now the only indigenous
bank still in the custody business. It possesses a massive local
franchise, providing asset servicing to a host of the fast-growing
local pension schemes, which appreciate a substantial local pres-
ence that can meet their treasury needs as well. NAB outsources
the outbound needs of its domestic clients to a global custodian
but continues to look after the Australian dollar custody busi-
ness of a number of foreign clients. Those that responded offer a
mixed verdict, but there are too few for that to be definitive.
J.P. Morgan
Next year will mark the tenth anniversary of the acquisition by
J.P. Morgan of the staff and clients of ANZ Custodian Services.
At the time the giant American bank, which has long had a large
global custody business for end-investors in Australia, was look-
ing to expand its direct custody and clearing network.
The scoring suggests there is room for improvement in asset
servicing, but especially in cash, FX, credit and collateral.
WEIGHTED AVERAGE SCORES
HSBC BNP Paribas Citi JP Morgan NAB
Market Average Global Average
Market share (% of responses) 36% 18% 12% 21% 12%
Relationship management 4.92 6.11 5.65 5.59 n/a 5.12 5.20
Client service 5.39 5.60 5.61 Account management 5.60 5.25 5.44 5.16 n/a 5.27 5.40
4.56 n/a 5.19 5.44
Asset safety 5.44 6.92 Risk management 5.52 4.44 5.75 5.50 n/a 5.59 5.68
5.58 5.97 n/a 5.51 5.46
Liquidity management 4.86 Regulation and compliance 5.73 4.83 3.50 4.47 n/a 4.59 4.89
5.84 5.90 6.05 n/a 5.79 5.64
Innovation Asset servicing 5.08 5.62 5.78 4.73 n/a 4.93 5.18
5.21 6.86 5.01 5.08 n/a 5.18 5.09
Pricing 5.10 5.33 5.24 5.22 n/a 5.18 4.82
Technology 4.95 5.03 5.44 5.26 n/a 5.11 5.28
Cash management and FX 4.42 4.36 2.34 4.36 n/a 4.15 4.25
Total 5.24 5.41 5.23 5.28 n/a 5.19 5.24
Fall 2018
globalcustodian.com
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