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A G E N T
B A N K S
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E M E R G I N G
M A R K E T S ]
Egypt
Citi
“I have not seen any updates, visits or contacts made by Citib-
ank,” notes a client. “Is this market not strategic for Citibank? I
would appreciate some activities at all.” As it happens, and on
a sizeable turn-out by clients, client service and relationship
management are among the higher scoring service areas for
Citi in Cairo. In fact, one demanding client, who is frustrated by
“complicated solutions for name-change of accounts” neverthe-
less acknowledges he receives a “good service.” Overall, average
scores awarded are down for a second year in succession.
HSBC
2018 sees a modest improvement for HSBC in Egypt. With the
EGX-30 coming off a two-year bull run throughout most of this
year, the bank can congratulate itself on finding the right combi-
nations of local and remote servicing and people and technology
to deliver a steady performance and especially in surpassing
both the local and global benchmarks in the tricky sphere of risk
management. The averages do of course conceal a considerable
volatility in the detailed scoring, but in most of the areas where
it matters, including client service and relationship manage-
ment, HSBC had a great year in Cairo.
QNB Alahli
QNB continues to impress clients with the quality of its ser-
vices. One respondent is pleased by “strong support and very
good reactivity,” while a second is “very impressed by the team’s
attention to detail and explanation for document requirements.”
There is less enthusiasm for the cost of the services, including
cash management and FX. One client would also “like to see
more pro-activity from the account management team in updat-
ing us of critical changes in the market, via a monthly or quarter-
ly call discussing upcoming market initiatives/changes.”
National Bank of Egypt: Custody Services Sector- treasury group
The indigenous provider will be disappointed not to maintain
the strong overall performance of a year ago, but a small group of
clients nevertheless ensure that NBE continues to shine in core
services, and especially on the people side. “We receive an excel-
lent service from the NBE,” writes a client. “They are one of the
best custodians we have.” This will delight NBE management,
which pursues a simple strategy for success: get close to clients
and stay close to them. A client has noticed “good services and
support provided by the operations team.”
Other
Many years have passed since Standard Chartered Bank
launched a Dubai-headquartered regional custody service for
banks, brokers and investors active in the Middle East in 2011.
With the service now under new leadership and joined with the
African network it acquired from Barclays in 2010, the gathering
momentum of the revivified business has not gone unnoticed by
firms active in the Egyptian marketplace. Commercial Interna-
tional Bank also garnered response, but neither received enough
submissions to be assessed properly.
WEIGHTED AVERAGE SCORES
QNB Alahli
National Bank of
Egypt
HSBC
Citi
Market Average Global Average
Share of validated responses (%) 21% 17% 17% 34% Relationship management 5.74 6.00 5.33 4.38 5.08 5.30
Client service 5.76 6.12 5.70 5.67 5.62 5.56
Account management 5.86 5.20 4.75 4.43 5.01 5.14
Asset safety 4.55 5.50 3.60 4.00 4.15 4.60
Risk management 5.88 5.60 5.80 5.25 5.53 5.50
Liquidity management 5.00 4.00 4.21 4.72 4.47 5.14
Regulation and compliance 5.54 7.00 5.60 5.33 5.34 4.84
Innovation 4.67 4.00 3.75 3.95 4.21 4.75
Asset servicing 5.58 7.00 6.11 5.61 5.68 5.52
Pricing 6.11 4.44 5.18 5.03 5.26 5.28
Technology 5.55 7.00 4.33 4.53 4.80 5.41
Cash management and FX 5.75 4.00 4.83 5.17 5.14 5.42
Total 5.53 5.27 4.96 4.79 5.04 5.23
Winter 2018
globalcustodian.com
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