Managing change and uncertainty is part and parcel of operating in the world’s financial markets, especially in the frontier and emerging markets sectors. At the time of writing this that experience is looking to be very relevant as the COVID-19 virus is spreading further afield, bringing market uncertainty in its wake. At Standard Chartered we are monitoring the situation very carefully, doing our best to ensure the safety of our staff while at the same time keeping our operations and processes running as close to normal as possible.
As many of the industry will already know, with this in mind the decision was made to postpone The Network Forum Africa meeting due to take place in Johannesburg in March.
Technology and the innovation, especially during this unprecedented period continues to be a hot topic. In this issue we take an in-depth look at the opportunities this presents in Africa as well as some of the concepts we see emerging in the digital asset space.
We continue to invest in our footprint and our people and are excited to introduce you to our new Securities Services Head in Nigeria in this edition. We have also recently welcomed Tina Knights as COO for Securities Services, succeeding Kat Rosboch who, after four extremely successful years in the role, moves on to a new challenge within the Bank. Tina, who is based in Singapore, has more than 20 years’ experience in operations and technology across global markets, where she has pioneered the use of emerging technologies to transform approaches to process re-engineering and operational support models. With Tina overseeing Operations, the backbone of our Securities Services organisation, we will continue to deliver the best outcomes for our clients and our business.
Emerging markets remain an important focus for global investors and we were honoured to recently receive a record 29 out of 30 possible accreditations in the Global Custodian Agent Banks in Emerging Markets 2019 Survey. Thank you for taking the time to participate in the survey and for rating us as your favoured provider in mainland China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. The awards are especially timely for Thailand, which has shown remarkable progress in its social and economic development in recent years and has a promising long-term growth outlook. We take a closer look at the country in this issue.
I hope you enjoy this edition of The Custodian. As always, if you have any feedback to share, we are eager to hear from you.
Margaret Harwood-Jones Global Head Securities Services
