Global custodian banks continue to expand in one of the most important battlegrounds in the asset servicing business, North Asia. Last year they were quick to grab the chance to further grow their presence in the region, which was not as impacted by Covid-19 as other parts of the world.

For global custodian banks such as Citi, HSBC, and Standard Chartered, North Asia presents vast opportunities. Despite the market volatility caused by the pandemic, they were able to record double-digit growth in assets under custody (AUC) in most of the markets in the region. HSBC proved to be more aggressive in growing its AUC, while Standard Chartered demonstrated its capability of providing high-quality services by showcasing the new mandates it won in South Korea and Taiwan, among other markets, during the awards period.

Technology upgrades played a crucial role last year. While global banks have been pursuing the digitalization of their operations and processes for years, it was last year’s pandemic that served as an accelerator. This is reflected in the surge in system upgrades among the banks during the year. CTBC, for example, invested greatly in this area and collaborated with a global service provider to enhance its custodian system.

On the fund administration side, HSBC displayed a strong commitment to servicing customers as reflected by client feedback and the results of our in-house asset servicing survey.

Against this backdrop, The Asset announces the winners of asset servicing awards for North Asia (excluding the Chinese market).

For more details, please subscribe to our magazine.

For a full list of winners, please click here.