Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (SCBHK) has established a new trustee subsidiary after receiving regulatory approval to complete its acquisition of RBC Investor Services Trust Hong Kong Limited.

The bank’s existing local trustee capabilities, which support retail funds, will be merged into the new unit, Standard Chartered Trustee (Hong Kong) Limited (SC Trustee), over time.

According to SCBHK, the acquisition has enhanced its securities services capabilities and client base, allowing it to expand into the trustee business for Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) and Occupational Retirement Schemes Ordinance (Orso) schemes in Hong Kong.

As an SCBHK subsidiary, SC Trustee is an MPF approved trustee authorized by the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFSA) to provide a full suite of services including trustee, fund administration, custody, and transfer agency services.

Simon Kellaway, global head of sales and regional head of financing and securities services, Greater China and North Asia, at Standard Chartered, is appointed as chairman of SC Trustee, and Christy Cheng, previously head of CCB (Asia) Trustee Co Ltd, is appointed as chief executive officer.

Kellaway notes that MPF is a very significant market with continuous growth potential, citing data from MPFSA showing that assets under management amounted to HK$1.12 trillion (US$142.9 billion) as of March 2022. “With Standard Chartered’s deep knowledge of the local market, we look forward to extending our trustee services for MPF schemes and other eligible investment funds to additional clients, and bolstering our capabilities in Hong Kong,” he adds.

Meanwhile, Stewart Aldcroft and Luzia Hung are appointed independent non-executive directors at SC Trustee (effective on April 28 and June 5 respectively).  Aldcroft was chairman of Cititrust Limited, with extensive experience in the asset management and fund distribution business in Asia. Hung was CEO of Manulife Provident Funds Trust Co Ltd, with deep knowledge of Hong Kong’s pensions and retirement benefits market.