Standard Chartered Bank has announced that it is expanding its custody capabilities in the UAE. Earlier this year, Standard Chartered Bank signed a Depository Participant Agreement with the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Last month, the Bank formally launched operations at the DFM, providing both local and international clients investing in the DFM with custody services.
The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) is the largest stock exchange in the UAE, with a market capitalization of $139 billion, with 81 securities listed on the exchange.
This is the second exchange in the Middle East that Standard Chartered Bank offers custody services. The Bank already provides clients access to the Dubai International Financial Exchange.
“Custody Services is an integral part of Securities Services, Transaction Banking. It is also a core business of Standard Chartered Bank,” says Giles Elliott, global head of product, custody and clearing at Standard Chartered Bank. “Among our client base are some of the world’s largest global custodians, broker-dealers, fund managers and institutional investors. Standard Chartered is deeply committed to meeting the custody requirements of our clients wherever required. In the Middle East Region, we are seeing very strong growth. To meet these increasing demands, we will continue to expand our product capabilities and service delivery models across these markets. This latest launch in the Dubai Financial Market expands the Bank’s sub custody footprint to 18 markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.”