[ S U R V E Y
|
A G E N T
B A N K S
I N
F R O N T I E R
M A R K E T S ]
Middle East and North Africa
T
he MENA region accounts for 13%
of total ABFM responses received.
Ratings were received for providers
offering services in Kuwait, Oman,
Bahrain, Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia.
These last two markets received too few
responses for individual consideration,
though their responses are counted in
the calculation of the regional category
averages.
Across the Middle East, two regional
providers, HSBC and Standard Char-
tered, receive the most reviews, while
in Morocco, Citi and Societe Generale
also attract a small number of ratings in
addition to Standard Chartered.
It would be fair to say that these
markets are all at different stages of
development. This is reflected in the
widely differing category scores, which
range from Very Weak (2.00-2.99) to
Good (5.00-5.99). Kuwait, for example,
is due to graduate to the MSCI Emerg-
ing Markets Index in May even though
its sovereign rating recently received
a downgrade from S&P. The Kuwaiti
Capital Markets Authority is actively
promoting inward investment, though
its annual conference “Capital Markets
Role in Economic Development and
Financial Reform Programs” due to be
held in March, was, of course, can-
celled as a result of global coronavirus
restrictions. In addition to vulnerability
from the pandemic itself, Gulf markets
are also acutely affected by the drop in
China’s demand for oil.
Taken as a whole, the region scores
below global averages in most catego-
ries, the exception being client service.
Technology, however, attracts surpris-
ingly weak levels of appreciation from
both European clients and those within
the MENA region.
Of the four markets, Bahrain regis-
ters results in the narrowest band with
all but one category rated Satisfactory
(4.00-4.99). Pricing manages to creep
into the lower slopes of Good, which
reflects well on HSBC and Standard
Chartered, who more or less share the
responses for this market.
The other three markets each have
COUNTRY SCORES Middle East and North Africa Bahrain Kuwait Morocco Oman
Account Management 4.49 4.74 4.81 3.47 4.32
Asset Safety 4.61 4.39 4.62 3.86 4.64
Asset Servicing 3.90 4.04 3.97 n/a 3.76
Cash Management and FX 5.05 4.56 4.73 n/a 5.07
Client Service 4.98 4.23 5.39 5.10 5.06
Innovation 4.25 4.38 4.63 n/a 4.44
Liquidity Management 5.10 4.50 5.50 n/a 5.80
Pricing 4.54 5.02 4.36 n/a 5.07
Regulation and Compliance 4.62 4.38 4.76 n/a 4.35
Relationship Management 4.14 4.55 3.31 3.52 4.27
Risk Management 4.70 4.59 4.43 n/a 4.96
Technology 2.46 n/a 4.17 n/a n/a
their own strengths and weaknesses
as reflected in the scores. In the case
of Kuwait, client service and liquidity
management are comfortably in Good
territory (5.00-5.99), while asset servic-
ing and relationship management leave
room for improvement. Oman appears
to have strengths on liquidity manage-
ment, though in comes up short in asset
servicing. Finally for Morocco, the only
North African market in the survey,
most respondents have chosen not to
rate all categories, leaving only relation-
ship management, account management
and client service with sufficient data
for a tentative assessment. On that basis,
client service appears well handled in
general, while the other two categories
disappoint.
The two multi-market providers that
record the most responses, HSBC and
Standard Chartered, are perceived as
having different strengths in the region.
HSBC scores best for liquidity manage-
ment, while Standard Chartered’s score
for asset servicing is well above the
regional average.
PROVIDER SCORES
(REGIONAL) Middle East and
North Africa HSBC Versus regional
average Standard
Chartered Bank Versus regional
average
Account Management 4.49 4.45 -0.04 4.78 0.29
Asset Safety 4.61 4.39 -0.22 4.95 0.33
Asset Servicing 3.90 2.02 -1.88 4.84 0.94
Cash Management and FX 5.05 n/a n/a 5.32 0.27
Client Service 4.98 4.84 -0.14 4.91 -0.06
Innovation 4.25 4.39 0.14 4.25 -0.01
Liquidity Management 5.10 6.38 1.27 4.25 -0.85
Pricing 4.54 5.24 0.70 4.54 n/a
Regulation and Compliance 4.62 4.62 n/a 4.78 0.16
Relationship Management 4.14 3.71 -0.42 4.38 0.24
Risk Management 4.70 4.65 -0.05 4.92 0.22
Technology 2.46 n/a n/a 4.23 1.77
Spring 2020
globalcustodian.com
79