Asset Servicing Working Group

Purpose

The Working Group’s purpose is to research the key challenges and issues that continue to impact the Asset Servicing area with the aim of providing best practice guidance for existing services as well as proposing alternative business models. Through these improvements and fundamental change propositions, the Working Group can assist the Securities Services industry in adopting more accurate, efficient and cost-effective Asset Servicing arrangements.

Scope

In scope topics for 2024 include:

Asset Servicing – Corporate Governance

Corporate governance is becoming increasingly important to investors. Within the Asset Servicing arena, governance events – such as Proxy Voting and Class Actions – involve operational processes that are highly manual, inefficient and costly. This subgroup will explore opportunities to improve the current processes through revised practices and automation in order to improve the effectiveness, timeliness and accuracy of the service offering whilst taking into account key influences such as, but not limited to, regulation.

Asset Servicing – Technology Enablers

This subgroup will investigate the potential for utilizing technology, such as – but not limited to – APIs, to improve operational processes in Asset Servicing. Validation of the technology’s potential will be achieved through a number of key use cases, including corporate governance events (see above) and complex corporate actions.

Key Deliverables

Asset Servicing – Corporate Governance

  • A set of Principles drafted based on key Findings from a 2023 industry survey on operationalizing corporate governance looking at how assets are governed, what challenges are faced and potential solutions to ensure good governance.
  • A report outlining the current challenges faced in the Proxy Voting and Class Actions space as well as potential solutions covering both tactical and more fundamental solutions.

Asset Servicing – Technology Enablers

  • An industry survey focused on uncovering technologies currently being used to solve domestic and cross-border asset servicing challenges and other asset servicing challenges that could be addressed via automation.
  • A paper summarizing of potential different technology options that could be used to improve the operational processes in asset servicing. 
  • Confirmation, through taking a number of use cases, of which option could be viable solutions.

Key Outcomes

Key outcomes will be:

  • Education of the membership on the current operational processes for proxy voting and class actions and how the Securities Services industry could benefit from change.
  • A road map for the Securities Services industry on the potential for technology to enable positive change in asset servicing.

Reports / Podcasts / Videos

  • Corporate Actions – Data Sourcing Videos
  • Asset Servicing – Data Sourcing: The Case for a Standardized, Automated Single Source Model > PDF 881 kB
  • Corporate Governance Survey 2023
  • Podcast on Shaping the Target Operating Model for Corporate Actions
  • Identifying the Key Challenges and Potential Solutions to Withholding Tax Relief and Recovery Processes (07/2022) > PDF 405 kB
  • Reimagining the Corporate Actions Operating Model Survey Key Findings > link
  • Corporate Actions 2021: Podcast on the Key Survey Findings (10/2021) > link
  • Corporate Actions 2021: Key Survey Findings (08/2021) > PDF 1401 kB
  • Report on Current Practices for Beneficial Owner Disclosure (07/2020) > PDF 580 kB
  • Digitization at Source of Corporate Action event data (12/2015) > PDF 918 kB
  • Progress report on the implementation of ISSA’s Global Principles for Corporate Actions and Proxy Voting (09/2013) > PDF 391 kB
  • Final Report on Global Principles for Corporate Actions Processing and Proxy Voting (06/2012) > PDF 797 kB
  • Annex to the Final Report (05/2010) > PDF 344 kB
  • Overview on Global Principles for Corporate Actions Processing and Proxy Voting (06/2012) > PDF 104 kB
  • Issuer Outreach 2012 (06/2012) > PDF 182 kB
  • Market Survey Reports of Interim Report on Corporate Actions (05/2010):
    • Market Survey – Europe (06/2010) > PDF 305 kB
    • Market Survey – Middle East & Africa (06/2010) > PDF 360 kB
    • Market Survey – Asia (06/2010) > PDF 622 kB
    • Market Survey – Americas (06/2010) > PDF 272 kB

Working Group Co-Chairs

  • Ann Marie Bria, DTCC
  • John Kirkpatrick, Broadridge Financial Solutions Ltd

Executive Sponsor

  • Mike Sleightholme, Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc.

Institutions Represented by Experts in the Working Group

  • Acupay System LLC
  • B3 Brazilian Exchange and OTC
  • Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA)
  • Banque Lombard Odier & Cie SA
  • BNP Paribas
  • Broadridge Financial Solutions
  • Capco
  • Chongwa (Macao) Financial Asset Exchange CO., Ltd.
  • Citi
  • Cofinpro
  • Datos Insights
  • DBS Bank
  • Deutsche Bank AG
  • Deutsche Börse Group
  • Euroclear
  • Fidelity Management and Research LLC
  • Financial Recovery Technologies
  • FIS
  • GlobeTax Services
  • Goal Group Limited
  • Grupo Bolsa Mexicana de Valores
  • Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited
  • Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A.
  • JP Morgan Chase & Co.
  • Julius Baer Group AG
  • Nasdaq Inc.
  • Natixis S.A.
  • Northern Trust Corporation
  • NSDL Group
  • Proxymity
  • Rand Merchant Bank – Custody Services
  • Royal Bank of Canada
  • S&P Global / IHS Markit
  • SIX Group
  • SWIFT SCRL
  • Tata Group
  • The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation
  • The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation
  • U.S. Bank, N.A.
  • Unicredit S.p.A.