Citi has been selected by CSOP Asset Management to provide custody, fund administration and trustee services for the launch of its first exchange-traded funds (ETF) in the form of an open-ended fund company (OFC).
OFC is an investment fund in corporate form domiciled in Hong Kong that allows managers an easier way of distributing their funds outside of Hong Kong.
Launched in 2018, Hong Kong’s OFC regime is a variable structure for fund management firms, as opposed to current structures, such as the unit trust, which has a fixed capital structure.
Citi was the first OFC ETF service provider in the market and has been providing custody and fund administration services to OFC ETFs since the OFC regime was launched by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission in July of 2018.
CSOP Asset Management’s CEO Chen Din says Citi was a “natural choice as a partner for custody and fund accounting services given that they remain the only custodian with the requisite experience and complete familiarity with such structures”.
“We are proud to be selected to provide custody and fund accounting services for CSOP’s first ever OFC ETF. CSOP is a valued client and their entrusting this role to Citi is a great vote of confidence in our position as the custodian of choice for ETFs,” adds Julie Kerr, Citi’s Asia Pacific head of custody and fund services.
Citi’s Securities Services provides services to over 150 ETFs for 24 issuers across the APAC region alone.
Look out for issue 260 of Asset Servicing Times on 3 March to discover more about Hong Kong’s OFC.
