[ S U R V E Y
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A G E N T
B A N K S
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E M E R G I N G
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Thailand
Standard Chartered Bank
SCB again gets the most responses, and the highest scores. The
bank ends up in much the same elevated position as it did in 2017,
despite clients being asked a very different set of questions. If
SCB shares the shortcomings of the industry in corporate actions,
treasury services and liquidity management, it is in a class of its
own in Thailand in every operational area that matters to clients.
kok; thinks asset servicing falls short of what would be helpful;
contends that rates of settlement not unimpeachable; believes
treasury services are opaque and expensive; and argues that
Deutsche could do more to help its customers be more efficient.
HSBC
A falling off as grand as a tenth overall since 2017 cannot prevent
HSBC continuing to shine brightly in Bangkok at the services
that lie at the heart of direct clearing and custody: easy account
opening procedures, settlement with minimal trade fails, timely
crediting of income due, fully disclosed FX execution, adoption
of standard processes whenever possible, respect for law and
regulation, and prudent operational risk management. It is not
surprising that the bank cannot resolve the corporate actions co-
nundrum here – or anywhere else for that matter, since nobody
can – but the lack of confidence in the safety of assets held by
HSBC is counterintuitive. Citi
Average scores are lower than they were a year ago. But the
points of vulnerability highlighted then are partially resolved,
with assessments of client service and relationship manage-
ment improved and pricing both better and worse – because
the average exaggerates the point, with clients seeing Citi as
flexible on terms. Confidence in the bank as a counterparty, and
in its technology, are both unquestioned. Clients expect trades
to settle on time here and income to be collected promptly, but
they have less confidence in corporate actions notifications and
proxy votes. What can be seen and what is paid on cash and FX
are judged to be unreasonable, and the level of assistance with
optimising holdings of cash and securities could certainly be
raised.
Deutsche Bank
The German bank did well in Bangkok last year, but this is a
less-pleasing performance. Beyond asset safety and aspects of
client service and relationship management, it is hard to find
a service area where Deutsche truly excels. The average client
would like less bureaucracy in terms of agreements and KYC; is
not totally convinced that cash and securities are safe in Bang- Bangkok Bank
It is a pity the indigenous bank did not collect enough responses
to be assessed properly this year, because it collected a generous
set of scores in 2017 and the upward momentum is now dissi-
pated. The average derived from the data that was received this
year falls short of those heights, but it would be unreasonable to
draw firm conclusions from such an exiguous data set.
WEIGHTED AVERAGE SCORES
Standard
Chartered Bank
Citi
Deutsche Bank HSBC
Share of validated responses (%) 38% 12% 21% 21%
Relationship management 5.55 5.50 5.04 4.50
Bangkok Bank Market Average Global Average
n/a 5.21 5.30
Client service 5.85 5.56 4.93 4.74 n/a 5.25 5.56
Account management 4.97 4.60 4.48 4.81 n/a 4.69 5.14
Asset safety 4.97 1.67 4.33 4.56 n/a 4.47 4.60
Risk management 5.46 5.50 5.42 5.42 n/a 5.42 5.50
Liquidity management 5.54 5.09 4.65 4.06 n/a 4.92 5.14
Regulation and compliance 4.60 3.50 3.56 5.00 n/a 4.27 4.84
Innovation 4.98 4.91 4.50 4.14 n/a 4.70 4.75
Asset servicing 5.87 6.00 4.87 5.27 n/a 5.50 5.52
Pricing 5.24 5.31 5.42 4.60 n/a 5.16 5.28
Technology 5.76 5.50 4.83 5.06 n/a 5.30 5.41
Cash management and FX 5.08 5.90 4.94 4.80 n/a 5.05 5.42
Total 5.30 5.14 4.75 4.72 n/a 4.99 5.23
Winter 2018
globalcustodian.com
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