[ S U R V E Y
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A G E N T
B A N K S
I N
E M E R G I N G
M A R K E T S ]
Malaysia
Standard Chartered Bank
Standard Chartered did well here last year. It has done less well
in 2018, but the issues are more specific than the service area
scores suggest. They revolve around questions of price, both ex-
plicit (in the shape of ad valorem and transaction fees) and im-
plicit (in the shape of spreads on deposits and foreign exchange
bargains and short-term credit), and these issues are scarcely
local. There is work to be done on asset servicing, which is a
local issue. But when it comes to the core responsibilities of
safekeeping and settlement, the scores are never less than good
and occasionally excellent.
Deutsche Bank
This is a strong endorsement of the service provided by
Deutsche Bank in Kuala Lumpur. In almost every service area
the bank clears the local and global benchmarks, and by gener-
ous margins in the majority of cases, to take the overall score to
a level which is well ahead of last year. Where clients are looking
for Deutsche to do more is in paying income and withhold-
ing tax entitlements more promptly, narrowing cash and FX
spreads, helping clients minimise their costs of credit, collateral
and capital, and trying harder to shrink transaction charges.
Citi
The average scores are down markedly again on 2017, which
was itself a less pleasing year than 2016. Curiously, the detail
shows that Citi is not getting much that matters wrong. It is not
difficult to open an account (even the KYC is tolerable) with Citi
in Kula Lumpur, trades settle on time, cash, FX, securities and
collateral are safekept, the client service is attentive, and the
average client expects to continue to do business with Citi for a
long time into the future. That Citi shines less brightly in asset
servicing is a fact of such longstanding that it scarcely requires
scrutiny any longer. It is managing – not holding - the cash and
the collateral that the bank falls short.
HSBC
This is an important market for HSBC. The bank has had an
international transaction processing hub in Kuala Lumpur since
2002, and it has developed into an important and client-facing
centralised servicing centre for all parts of the 38-market direct
clearing and custody network of the bank. A reasonable num-
ber of clients of the local sub-custody arm of the bank are less
interested in the global centre of excellence than in the ability
of HSBC to settle their trades quickly (it can), service their
assets promptly (not always) and keep their cash and securities
safe (not completely convinced). The eventual outcome is less
impressive than it was a year ago.
Maybank
The verdict of a small number of Maybank clients is as volatile
as the performance of the Malaysian stock market in 2018. It is
unsurprising, since there are two few responses for any as-
sessment to be sound. UOB continues to offer a service but no
responses were received.
WEIGHTED AVERAGE SCORES
Deutsche Bank
Maybank
Citi
HSBC
Standard Chartered
Market Average
Bank
Share of validated responses (%) 12% 12% 15% 30% 27%
Relationship management 6.50 4.60 4.95 5.30 5.29
5.33
Global Average
5.30
Client service 6.62 6.50 5.79 4.47 5.45 5.52 5.56
Account management 5.60 4.93 4.60 4.78 4.82 4.87 5.14
Asset safety 5.25 6.20 3.13 3.88 4.10 4.20 4.60
Risk management 6.30 4.62 5.36 5.44 5.18 5.32 5.50
Liquidity management 5.92 5.50 5.56 3.96 4.93 4.93 5.14
Regulation and compliance 5.67 4.00 3.67 5.38 4.23 4.53 4.84
Innovation 5.50 6.11 4.54 4.36 4.22 4.50 4.75
Asset servicing 6.06 5.89 5.67 5.73 4.78 5.39 5.52
Pricing 6.20 5.71 5.30 4.88 4.68 5.01 5.28
Technology 6.12 5.13 5.29 5.50 5.18 5.39 5.41
Cash management and FX 6.29 6.33 5.60 5.25 5.25 5.49 5.42
Total 6.02 5.33 4.93 4.91 4.82 5.04 5.23
72
Global Custodian
Winter 2018