The surge of capital flowing into illiquid alternative assets highlights the need for transparency in investor reporting, but this great opportunity also remains one of the greatest challenges for the private capital markets, says Anne Anquillare, CFA, CEO and president of PEF Services.

Much has been said about the potential demise of transfer agency with many custody banks exiting the business. In this time of technological disruption, Global Custodian asks Mike Melles, senior director, and Jeff Young, enterprise strategist of transfer agency solutions at FIS, what providers can do to transform their transfer agency offering and meet new asset manager demands. 

Last year, RBI hosted a Central and Eastern Europe Capital Market Infrastructure Forum in Vienna. The forum included two panels comprising senior representatives of stock exchanges and CSDs from the region. The second of the panels, “Does one size fit all?” explored the practical impact of CSDs on market activity in CEE markets.

China’s QFII and RQFII schemes are the subject of a consultation by China’s regulators, while inclusion of Chinese securities in global indices continues apace.

Digital disruption is driving a fundamental rethink of the securities services business model. Scott Dickinson, regional head of securities services for Africa and the Middle East, Standard Chartered, believes disruptive technologies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies will strengthen their client proposition.

John Plansky, CEO of Charles River Development, a State Street company, sits down with Global Custodian to talk about how State Street’s flagship front-to-back platform is resonating with key buy-side clients and how the model could become the new norm in the asset servicing business.

Prevent your trades from failing in the first instance and you’ll have nothing to worry about under the new Settlement Discipline Regime (SDR), says Matthew Johnson, associate director, ITP product management at DTCC.

SmartStream launched a new innovation lab in Vienna last summer populated with some of the industry’s finest talent. Just a year later, it is ready to roll out a transformative new artificial intelligence solution for reconciliation.

India’s ambitious plans to double the size of its economy to $5 trillion will mean local custodians will have an increasingly important role to facilitate increased activity from foreign portfolio investments (FPIs) and domestic investment vehicles such as mutual funds, insurance and AIFs. Vineet Potnis, head of custody services for Stock Holding, explains what India’s largest custodian is doing in preparation for this.

The potential ‘big bang’ for buy-side firms being swept into the upcoming initial margin rules for non-cleared derivatives was given a vital delay this summer, with the deadline extended until September 2021.