Citi rings the bell to start the day’s trading with (L-R) SCCP Deputy Chief Operating Officer Jenny Cueto; SCCP Chief Operating Officer Renee D. Rubio; Citi Securities Services Director Theresa Reyes; Citi Markets & Securities Services Head Paul Favila; Citi Asia Head for Direct Custody & Clearing Jeffrey Williams; Citi Philippines CEO Aftab Ahmed; Citi ASEAN Head Amol Gupte; PSE chair Jose Pardo; and PSE president & CEO Hans B. Sicat

Citi Philippines, the country’s largest foreign bank, recently marked the 30th anniversary of serving corporate clients in the country with Direct Custody and Clearing Services. Asia Head Jeffrey Williams flew in to celebrate this milestone with clients and hosted an intimate reception at The Peninsula Manila. Joining him were ASEAN Head Amol Gupte, Philippines CEO Aftab Ahmed, Markets & Securities Services Head Paul Favila, and Securities Services Director Theresa Reyes.

Citi has also announced that it will begin offering account operator services to broker-dealers in the Philippines, a first in the country. By using this service, clients can establish and maintain market visibility in the country, while minimizing their operational footprint by leveraging Citi’s post-trade processing infrastructure, local expertise and market connectivity. Through this service, Citi is meeting the demand for low cost, proven infrastructure and lowering the entry barrier for broker-dealers entering into the Philippines market.

This launch is in line with the efforts of various regulators in developing the local capital market. Account operator allows for a faster “time to operate” for broker-dealers who want to set-up their presence in the Philippine equities market by allowing the outsourcing of broker-dealer functions to a third party service provider.

Addressing clients at the event, Williams said that the account operator services will “connect global customers to the global markets.” He said there has been an acceleration of regulatory change since the financial crisis and that for many clients, it is not just about choosing a custodian with operational capability and service standards. They also need to look for a custodian with the proper risk and control environment. Citi’s direct custody network covers 63 markets across the globe, and it has added 12 markets to the said network since the financial crisis.