State Street expands trust services in Singapore

STATE Street has been granted a trust business licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to expand its trustee capabilities in Singapore, allowing it to tap the Republic's growing wealth.

The new licence will enable the American trust bank to act as a trustee for collective investment schemes offered to institutional investors and restricted schemes offered to accredited investors.

Previously, it only provided trustee services to Singapore-authorised, retail-only, collective investment schemes.

In response to queries on whether it will also be hiring more staff, State Street said that it reviews its resources "on a regular basis" to support clients in Singapore.

The Singapore office, set up in 1995, now has more than 250 people servicing clients on the ground.

"Singapore has a large and rapidly growing wealth management and banking industry, and demand for restricted collective investment schemes is expected to continue to increase," said Syed Asim Hasan, head of global services for South-east Asia at State Street, in a statement on Monday.

"With full trustee servicing capabilities and our comprehensive front-, middle- and back-office services, we are excited to support asset managers' growth in the retail, high-net-worth and institutional segments in Singapore," he said.

State Street had US$32.6 trillion in assets under custody and administration and US$2.8 trillion in assets under management as at end March.

The bank operates in over a hundred markets and employs about 40,000 worldwide.