BNP Paribas wants Europe-class services for Asia

BNP Paribas Singapore branch was granted a wholesale banking license to widen the services offered locally. With this new license, BNP Paribas Securities Services is now able to offer local and global custody services in addition to the trustee, fund and investment administration services it already provides to its clients in Asia.

BNP Paribas Securities Services has now been operating in Singapore for more than one year delivering investment administration solutions and providing trustee and fund administration services to Singapore domiciled unit trusts as well as offshore funds managed by asset management companies based in the region.

Elizabeth Chia, Head of Global Custody Solutions for Asia Pacific, emphasizes how important this step is for clients: "We see a strong demand from our Europe-based clients operating in the region to be offered the same top class custody and administration solutions they are delivered in Europe. In the same time, we believe many institutional investors and financial intermediaries in Asia will increasingly think about outsourcing their middle and back-office operations in this current environment to focus on their core businesses. In that respect, they will now have access to unrivalled solutions in the market by partnering with BNP Paribas, one of the most solid banks in the world."

For Jean-Marc Pasquet, Head of BNP Paribas Securities Services for Asia Pacific, "This new step represents a significant milestone for the development of BNP Paribas Securities Services in Asia Pacific where we have sizeable ambitions. It reinforces our commitment to provide our clients with the same high quality services all around the world with on-the-ground support in all time zones in all regions. This illustrates our "the closer, the better" motto, and we shall continue our efforts to grow at a vigorous pace to be operational in eight to ten key markets by 2013, with Hong Kong being the next step in a few months."