Global Custodian Fall 2018 | Page 95

[ S U R V E Y | A G E N T B A N K S I N M A J O R M A R K E T S ] Singapore Standard Chartered Bank Respondents like their relationship managers. “Supportive RM team, keep in touch,” says one. Another applauds an “excellent and dedicated team that always reach out to clients to seek their requirements and strive to deliver to their demand.” But good relationships at the personal level are not yet translating into seamless operational support. Interestingly, assessments of client service, which measures day-to-day delivery of current services, is more positive. “Very well documented,” writes a client. “Have not missed any SLA.” Not unexpectedly, settlement is much less troublesome than asset-servicing, though a client would “prefer more pro-active contact from custodian in the event of possible trade failure/ issue with trade matching rather than the current situation, whereby client has to check the custodian platform regularly to monitor trade settlement.” The technology is creating wider dis- content. “System glitches happen too frequently for us to track,” notes one client. DBS These scores are not as lustrous as those DBS earned in Hong Kong, but they run them close. The only areas that even hint of shortcomings occur in narrow fields such as cost disclosure and the up-to-dateness of information. The highest accolade is earned by the RMs. One client name-checks his, describing her as “very professional and responsive to our queries and has assisted us on a timely basis. We are grateful to have such an outstanding relationship manager to guide us.” Deutsche Bank Respondents are confident their trades will be settled and their assets safekept, but the outcome overall is not a result that Deutsche would expect here. The averages fall short not just of the thresholds, but of the standards the bank has set itself in the past and in other markets. HSBC A less-than-vintage return by a small group of clients neverthe- less contains many encouraging messages about staff quality, set- tlement efficiency, and service standards even in hard-to-please areas such as income collections and tax reclaim, alongside more predictable perceptions such as credit strength and access to regulators. Citi This is an outstanding set of results. If it could raise the quality of its RMs, improve corporate action notifications, offer more transparency and choice in cash and FX and pass on cost savings more readily, Citi Singapore would be close to perfection. BNP Paribas Securities Services More than a decade has passed since the French custodian opened in Asia, with the aim of servicing global clients in the region. BNP Paribas has built a franchise here, but too few of its members responded to make confident assessments of the qual- ity of the services. However, the averages fall short of the levels obtained elsewhere. WEIGHTED AVERAGE SCORES DBS Bank Standard Chartered Bank Deutsche Bank HSBC Citi BNP Paribas Market share (% of responses) 26% 26% 18% 18% 10% 6% Relationship management 5.18 4.84 4.46 4.31 5.92 Client service 5.47 5.25 4.37 5.24 Account management 5.56 5.24 4.88 5.07 Asset safety 5.50 5.82 5.50 Risk management 5.12 5.20 5.24 Liquidity management 4.55 3.73 Regulation and compliance 6.08 5.50 Innovation 5.32 Asset servicing 5.09 Pricing Technology Market Average Global Average n/a 4.87 5.20 6.03 n/a 5.31 5.40 6.06 n/a 5.34 5.44 4.76 6.01 n/a 5.47 5.68 5.89 6.09 n/a 5.40 5.46 5.09 5.38 5.02 n/a 4.58 4.89 4.64 5.14 6.13 n/a 5.54 5.64 5.49 4.49 4.29 6.05 n/a 5.12 5.18 4.86 4.52 5.46 5.61 n/a 5.23 5.09 4.18 4.81 4.09 4.47 5.59 n/a 4.63 4.82 5.30 4.52 4.78 5.01 5.76 n/a 5.12 5.28 Cash management and FX 4.44 4.28 4.07 4.54 3.65 n/a 4.29 4.25 Total 5.15 5.00 4.65 4.96 5.79 n/a 5.10 5.24 Fall 2018 globalcustodian.com 95