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Viraj Kulkarni, founder and CEO, Pivot
Management Consulting
Indian markets to flourish as
developments continue
The next year holds promise of continued political stability
in India. There will be a focus on ease of doing business,
greater efficiency due to the common application form for
foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), while interoperability
between the clearing houses also goes live.
Enabling omnibus structure and depository receipts at
GIFT City exchanges will spur activity for custodians. Con-
tinuity of inflows from FDI, FPIs and the AIF segment will
shift custodians key focus from operational efficiencies to
Richard Street, head of global client
coverage UK, Europe & Middle East,
RBC Investor & Treasury Services
Asset managers will up
their demands
As we move into the New Year, I believe we
will see asset managers demanding more
from their providers to drive greater value
and remain competitive in an ever-challeng-
ing market. As cost pressures continue to
rise, asset managers will seek increased ef-
ficiencies and rely on their providers to help
them deliver new capabilities and savings.
Forward thinking providers will partner with
their clients to facilitate a more advanced
data environment, offering solutions with
significant flexibility. These data services will
benefit asset managers across all functions
to become a ‘golden data source’ support-
ing not just operational performance, but
offering insight and adding value in all areas
of business management, regulatory report-
ing, sales and distributions and investment
departments.
business and client development. The custodian wish list
for 2019 in India includes - development in the depository
receipts and SBL space, along with advances in the bond
market, improvements in the KYC process and regulators
starting to reconnect with global investors.
Enabling custodians to outsource operations will signifi-
cantly bring down the cost of doing business and improve
the attractiveness of India. Implementation of the Khan
Committee report holds greater harmonisation and effica-
cy for investors and custodians. Indian custodians service,
rated amongst the highest worldwide in the Global Custo-
dian Survey, will have to continue investing in technology,
analytics and next gen fund accounting solutions.
Cécile Nagel, CEO of EuroCCP
Brexit will have long-lasting
impact and expect M&A and tech
developments
Brexit will continue to dominate the agenda. While market
participants have already invested significant resources
preparing for the UK’s departure from the EU, unknowns
remain. Thus far the industry has focused on the official
exit date. However, 29 March will only mark the beginning
of fundamental changes that will affect financial services
firms throughout 2019 and beyond.
I also expect regulatory change and M&A to continue to
drive the agenda for market infrastructures, especially as
firms look to build out their technology and broaden their
products and services offering.
With regards to technology, I expect to see artificial
intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) based analytics
to gain ground. Data has long been at the centre of all tech-
nology innovation in the financial services space, with AI
and ML making some of the great advances this year. As we
move into 2019, these technologies will likely be the driving
force behind increasingly intelligent trading decisions and
increased operational efficiency in post-trade.
Winter 2018
globalcustodian.com
47