J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services is launching a direct custody and clearing (DCC) offering in Brazil, expanding its custody business in Russia, and plans to launch DCC in Hong Kong.
A year after the global custodians announcement that it would essentially re-enter the sub-custody business in strategic markets around the world (see J.P. Morgan gets back into the sub-custody business,” Winter Plus 2011), J.P. Morgan adds to its current roster of direct custody markets in order or priority for the firm.
Extending our DCC offering in Russia and Brazil is an important element of J.P. Morgans plans and priorities for international growth, says Nick Rudenstine, global head of J.P. Morgan Investor Services. J.P. Morgan offers global custody and clearing solutions in the countries in which we are looking to expand.
Rowena Romulo, global head of Direct Custody & Clearing for J.P. Morgan WSS, says the firm has finished transferring its global custody book of business from another custodian in Brazil to within house.
The firm has done direct custody in Russia since the 1990s, but it custodied purely in-house business, Romulo says. The latest announcement launches sub-custody to third-party clients. The firm has appointed Katerina Sizova to head the business in Russia. She most recently was global head of operations at the Renaissance Group.
Romulo says J.P. Morgan plans to increase its third-party sub-custody business to 21 markets by 2015. Currently it offers direct custody and clearing in Australia, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Taiwan, Russia, UK and US.
The latest expansion is an extension of our previously announced plans to grow DCC in markets where it makes sense for us and our clients, Romulo says. Operating locally gives our clients an integrated solution across a range of markets supported by our leading client service, a unified technology platform and local market expertise.
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(CG)