Standard Chartered’s Madeleine Senior speaks about the bank’s emerging market focus and its drive to promote diversity and financial inclusion
Madeleine Senior joined Standard Chartered in June 2019 as managing director, regional head of financing and securities services, Americas and Europe based in London.
Her industry career spans over 27 years, during which she has developed extensive management and sales experience and sat on multiple asset management, fund administration and securities services industry boards.
Before joining Standard Chartered, she was based in Australia as the regional managing director of a global custodian, responsible for establishing a capital markets division in Sydney as well as overseeing an international asset management business and defining the business strategy across Australasia.
She describes herself as very fortunate to have lived and worked in many of the world’s most exciting and dynamic cities. She has led Europe, Middle East, and Africa sales teams, including business development, product evolution, marketing, and strategy across 28 countries for asset owners, asset managers, insurance companies, hedge funds and sovereign wealth communities.
Prior to that, she was managing director in the Nordics, opening a new office in Sweden in 2009, and has extensive knowledge and experience in those markets.
Beyond financial services, Madeleine speaks regularly at diversity councils and Women in Leadership forums and is a passionate advocate of these initiatives. She is also a qualified teacher.
What attracted you to join Standard Chartered?
I was attracted to Standard Chartered by its network across emerging markets, the quality of its brand and its progressive and purpose-led culture.
By joining the bank, I recognised the opportunity to make a real difference in the countries in which we operate by doing the right thing in all we do: by our people, our clients, our environment and the communities we work in.
The bank creates an environment in which energised and inspired individuals can flourish and are encouraged to disrupt and challenge the status quo by being better together. It is a dynamic environment to work in and I was excited to be part of it.
I am a former English teacher and an enthusiastic advocate for diversity, inclusion and respect. Consequently, it was motivating to see the work that the bank was doing in promoting gender equality, educational access and financial inclusion in communities around the world.
For example, our global community programme, Futuremakers by Standard Chartered, is a bank-wide initiative to tackle inequality by encouraging greater economic inclusion of young people in the markets that we service. In 2019 and 2020, Futuremakers programmes reached more than 366,000 young people across 35 markets.
Why is Standard Chartered different to other global custodians?
Our emerging market focus sets us apart. Standard Chartered operates in 59 markets in the world’s most dynamic regions — in Asia, Africa and the Middle East — with financing and securities services (FSS) focused on 40 of those markets. Operationally, these can be some of the most challenging markets to navigate and every one is different in terms of the readiness of inbound investors, investment restrictions, language, culture, currency and regulatory requirements.
Our proximity to these markets, and our strong connections within them, enables us to work proactively with regulators and exchanges, informing decision-making and driving reform on behalf of our clients while promoting better access to employment, educational opportunities and economic growth. To be successful in these markets, we innovate at speed, channelling talent, technology, product development and investment expenditure into dynamic growth, inclusion and market access.
What are the most popular markets currently for inbound investors?
Many investors are looking beyond traditional western markets and are keen to access our insights and proximity to dynamic emerging markets. Markets such as China and India have seen rapid growth and continue to receive keen interest from global investors. Even so, foreign participation in China’s onshore market remains relatively small, with considerable potential for further growth. Foreign inflows are expected to climb to a record CNY1.5 trillion (US$230 billion) this year, as the economy begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with new simplified access reforms.
We are seeing continued interest in India, both via foreign portfolio investments (FPI) and foreign direct investments (FDI). US investor clients, in particular, are keen to access FPI via the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) listed futures, options and to access securities lending activity there. Others prefer the FDI route into infrastructure, real estate or distressed debt.
Throughout 2021, we have seen increased interest in Africa. Investors are keen to align with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which cite Africa as a key recipient market for impact investment. It has become easier to do business in many parts of the region as a result of economic reforms, investments in technology and innovation, and improvements in infrastructure.
However, Africa remains a challenging region without expert insights, solutions and support, given the diversity across countries at varying stages of development. Hence, Standard Chartered plays a crucial role in helping clients to navigate this.
The Middle East is also becoming a more important region for investors. For example, Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in the MSCI emerging market index in March 2019 has driven new investor interest, while the UAE has also seen significant growth in investor activities this year.
The financing and securities services business goes beyond securities services to include prime brokerage and agency securities lending.
Why did Standard Chartered combine these business units?
Our clients want us to operate as one bank and we recognised that we could build on the linkages between these businesses to offer complementary solutions for our clients and to become more efficient and interconnected internally. By combining these products, our FSS division offers full lifecycle product development, access to talent and affords greater client transparency and choice.
What are your clients’ current priorities across the business segments you support?
Four themes particularly stand out: market access; client experience; risk awareness, and values-led investing.
Specifically, clients are seeking greater diversification by extending their exposure to emerging markets in search of new yield opportunities.
Technology advances, innovation and the ability to co-create, inform and influence change are critical for sophisticated clients — especially in the markets in which we operate. Pricing transparency, cost efficiencies, direct market access and seamless connectivity are key to creating an excellent client experience.
Clients are becoming more aware of, and sensitive to, credit, currency and counterparty risk. Consequently, they are seeking full transparency over who is transacting on their behalf and how this takes place.
Finally, customers across all segments are seeking to incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles on behalf of their own clients and across their own activities.
Where do you identify major successes through the initiatives you have outlined?
The UN Sustainable Development Goals provide a framework for sustainability programmes from national governments and multilateral agencies. However, financial institutions also have an important role to play in promoting economic growth that is environmentally and socially sustainable and that advances essential development objectives. We can do this by working in partnership with key agencies, governments, other financial institutions and corporations to offer financing and promote change.
Standard Chartered is taking a lead in promoting these development goals through a variety of ongoing projects. For example, in October 2018 Standard Chartered and the World Bank sold the world’s first sovereign blue bond for the Republic of Seychelles to protect marine areas. We also brought together a coalition of banks to form the Illegal Wildlife Trade Financial Taskforce, which aims to mobilise the global financial system against this catastrophic environmental, social and financial crime.
Elsewhere, for the past 20 years we have been working to improve health and safety, environmental, social and labour practices in Bangladesh’s economically critical ship recycling industry.
At a business unit level, we have seen tremendous growth across our FSS business. Our prime brokerage business has grown exponentially — and so too has our agency securities lending franchise, where we recently appointed a global head to focus on the expansion of this exciting area of growth.
Our custody business has secured substantial wins across all markets that we service and we are now in the top three providers by assets under custody and clearing volumes in several countries, including Taiwan, Kenya, Singapore and the UAE.
We continue to advance our innovation agenda, with our successes in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and blockchain recognised through awards by leading independent industry publications.
Most importantly, after a challenging year for us all, we continue to expand our client relationships, while our talented people are engaged, energised and keen to make a difference. This bodes well for a dynamic and diverse future, full of innovation and change for the better.
What are the strategic priorities for Standard Chartered’s Financing and Securities Services unit for the coming 12 to 24 months?
I mentioned earlier that I was particularly attracted to Standard Chartered’s market network and culture, and the difference the bank seeks to make in the countries in which it operates.
Over the next 12 to 24 months, I expect to see FSS reinforcing its position and influence as a market leader in the 40 markets in which we operate today, supporting clients’ growth ambitions through our digital solutions, market insights and domain expertise.
At the same time, we want our business, and our clients’ businesses, to ‘grow well’, with diversity and inclusion, and environmental and social considerations central to the way we think, act and interact, whether with clients, partners, regulators or the wider market.
