BNP Paribas Securities Services has been selected to provide global custody services to China Merchants Bank’s (CMB) Singapore branch.
The mandate will also cover custody and settlement services for CMB’s international fixed income securities, derivatives and equities assets in Hong Kong, Singapore and the US.
The deal will give CMB wider access to international market and supports its growth ambitions.
“We are delighted to have been appointed by China Merchants Bank to support its private banking business in Singapore and its regional growth ambitions,” said Diana Senanayake, head of BNP Paribas Securities Services Singapore.
“This is a prestigious new mandate which consolidates our leading position in the Singapore market. It also demonstrates our strength in supporting Chinese banks with their international expansion plans.”
CMB aims to become the largest private bank in Asia, currently managing $232 billion of international assets through its offices in New York, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia.
The win is the first under Mostapha Tahiri, who was appointed BNP Paribas’s new head of Asia-Pacific securities services, based in Singapore, in January. Senanayake was appointed CEO of the Singapore business in July last year, joining from RBC Investor and Treasury Services (RBC I&TS).
The mandate is also the latest high-profile deal for BNP Paribas Securities Services in the region. In December, it signed a mandate with online stock broker CMC Markets to provide global custody and settlement services for its $600 million of assets in Australia.