Escrow agency services used to focus mainly on capital market transactions, but the growing size, as well as complexity and sophistication, of treasury solutions has unlocked opportunities for escrow agency services even among corporates.

In recent years, the emergence of e-commerce and digital payment platforms has resulted in the inclusion of escrow agency services as part of treasury solutions, particularly for cash management, making it distinct from the use of escrow agency services for traditional lending and investment banking transactions.

Best Custody Specialist Awards

It is in this context that The Asset Custody Specialist Awards has added the new category of “Best in Escrow Agency, Treasury Solutions, Asean”. Standard Chartered Bank wins the award for offering best-in-class escrow agency services for treasury solutions in the region.

The other winners of The Asset Custody Specialist Awards:

HSBC grabs the “Best in Escrow Agency, Asia” award for its remarkable closing of major M&A deals across Asia, particularly in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam.

DBS is recognized as “Best Custody Specialist, Digital Assets, Asia” for enabling easier and faster transfers of digital assets for clients with a wider selection of digital exchanges and payment service providers through integrated straight-through processing.

Standard Chartered Bank wins as “Best Custody Specialist, Africa” for unswervingly expanding its operations in the continent despite challenging market conditions. It is still the only international bank that offers trustee services and one of only two international banks that offer custody and settlement services in South Africa. It is also the only global provider to win such mandates in 11 markets in the continent.

Northern Trust is “Best Custody Specialist, Institutional, Asia” in recognition of its outstanding performance in servicing the regional and global requirements of institutional clients amid challenging market conditions, while contributing to establishing frameworks and standards for the benefit of the industry.

BOCI-Prudential Trustee Limited is honoured as “Best Custody Specialist, Insurance, Greater China” for its ability to win major mandates from Chinese insurance companies and service their unique requirements.

HSBC is “Best Transfer Agent, Asia” as it continues to dominate the transfer agency business in Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Its superior TA platform and tailored solutions for data privacy and local market requirements enable the bank to deliver clients’ products in any time zone, language and currency.

For the full list of awardees, please click here.

Mandates of the year

A total of 17 mandates are recognized as “Mandates of the Year”, 70% than in the previous year, an indication of the growing requirements among clients as well as the greater excellence among service providers in meeting these requirements.

Six corporate trust mandates are included in the honours list, double the number of corporate trust mandates recognized a year earlier. Two of these mandates are from Deutsche Bank, two from HSBC, one from DBS, and one from China Construction Bank (Asia).

Three custody mandates win the awards, two from Deutsche Bank (one from India and one from the Philippines), and one from Bank of Communications (China).

A total of three fund administration mandates from Deutsche Bank make it to the winning circle, two from India and one from the Philippines.

Deutsche Bank is also recognized for one DR mandate while Citi grabs the award for one GDR mandate.

Deutsche Bank is likewise honoured for one subcustodian mandate in Malaysia.

HSBC joins the list of winners for one securities lending mandate and one escrow agent mandate.

For the full list of awardees, please click here.

To join the in-person annual celebratory dinner on June 14 2024 in Hong Kong, please contact [email protected].