The implementation on a single and harmonised Asiaclear for the whole of Asia is highly unlikely to happen as the region is too fragmented and complex to allow such a structure to be created, says industry expert.
In the last 20 years, there has been no real progress of market harmonisation in Asia, said Colin Brooks, Global Head of Sub-Custody and Clearing at HSBC Securities Services when speaking at the NEMA 2011 conference in Croatia. In the 1990s, there were discussions and plans to implement a central Asiaclear structure however it came to nothing because it was too complex for Asia at the time and this is still probably the case.
When speaking in his presentation on Sub-Custody The Shape Of Things To Come, Brooks said that the main issues that stopped the Asiaclear structure from being created was due to a range of elements.
There were many problems that could not be solved, said Brooks. Who would pay? Where would it be located? And there were a lot of issues over countries giving up sovereignty to a multinational construct, which also led to many political and nationalistic issues.
Please click here for all coverage of the NEMA 2011 conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia this week with Global Custodian. (LB)