A deep dive into our custody services

Our top-ranked custody service is one of the pillars in the securities lifecycle. Customers rely on us to be a trusted partner to safeguard their assets around the world. We provide custody services for your portfolio on a straightforward and secure basis.

 

Over the past few years, the securities services business has faced unprecedented challenges, including regulatory reforms, higher compliance burden, intense competition, cost pressure and digital innovation.
With these changes being a constant factor in custody services, developing innovative solutions across the securities lifecycle is key to our client experience and our strategic growth. How do we help our customers meet complex custody needs while maximising operational efficiency and managing risk at all times?

Upgrade to remain relevant

To support their strategic goals, customers expect continuous improvements in the delivery of our core custody capabilities. In order to supply these responsive core services on a scalable basis, we invest extensively in technology infrastructure, automation and standardization of our core services.
This automation of our processes delivers great operational efficiency and cost saving for our customers, while it is boosting service quality at the same time. In the meantime, it enables us to respond quickly to queries and makes sure we can focus on your future needs.

Scalable operational efficiency

We have been providing custody solutions from the very first start, and we are ranked among the top-class providers in our home markets. It has been our core business for years and is embedded in our DNA.
Whether being a wealth manager, an institutional client, asset manager or private banker, every single customer receives the same premium service with the protection of Chinese walls. Therefore, every single investment in our technological infrastructure, automation and standardization of our processes is beneficial to all our customers.

Global reach with local expertise

We offer our customers a global reach with local expertise. Our home markets are our focus, we know them inside out. Our customers can rely on our knowledge of local market practices, our access to market authorities and our understanding of regulatory and market changes.
Our global custody covers over 48 markets for a broad range of assets, relying on robust infrastructure and qualified expert teams throughout the securities lifecycle.
To give you a seamless experience every step of the way, we rely on a strong network of market players to collaborate and leverage. We select and monitor our partners and providers carefully by following a strict due diligence process.

Industry expertise

Digitalization versus human touch? We offer you best of both worlds.
Next to the investments in automation and technological infrastructure, we are proud of our people and their knowledge and we invest full-time in making sure everyone evolves and constantly grows in their knowledge and expertise. This means that our qualified experts in-house can focus on analysing, enriching and processing the events at different points in time throughout the lifecycle. While our client service team can respond quickly to queries being in direct contact with our customers. At any stage of the process, you are always in touch with an expert.

We also leverage on our position as a member of the KBC Group, benefiting from its scale, reputation, skills & expertise and quality standards.

Being a market leader in custody services, we also play a leading role in several industry working groups, such as Febelfin (Belgian Financial Sector Federation), Ami-SeCo (Advisory group on Market infrastructures for Securities & Collateral) and CAJW (Corporate Actions Joint Working Group).

Data driven

Next to installing the right tools and technology, becoming data-driven is about making data and analytics the centre of our business and becomes key to a great customer experience .
By combining our own data with the data and applications of our partners, custodians and providers we can provide our customers with deeper insights that result again in operational efficiency, a faster and more personal approach.

Risk Management

One of our key considerations is to have strong processes and policies in place to ensure the safety of assets under custody, backed by a knowledgeable and experienced team with the ability to identify risks and act swiftly. We have built-in control mechanisms and an incident framework in place to be able to react quickly.
The processes of KBC Securities Services are supervised and assessed by the apropriate lines of defence, both internal and external. 
For the 4th year in a row, we have obtained the ISAE 3402 Type II certification for the securities services processes outsourced to other financial institutions that are using KBC’s systems and accounts for processing their customers (= Business Process Outsourcing or BPO).

Your leading partner

Our ability to adapt to market changes, trends and client needs has been proven over the last decades. We take a more intelligent, longer-term approach to the work we do, allowing our customers to deal with the future challenges. We build long-term relationships with every single one of our customers and it remains our mission to be the local reference in everything we do.
When you choose KBC Securities Services, you choose security, expertise and digitalisation. We make securities services less complex, more efficient and more cost effective.

Key figures

Number of events processed: 59.422
Number of bookings: 2.481.689
Number of announcement letters: 394.026
First time right: 99,56%
Timely bookings: 99%