By DALJIT DHESI

KUALA LUMPUR: HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd, which attributed the success of its custodian and clearing services partly to the Six Sigma methodology, aims to further intensify its usage for its custodian and clearing operations this year.

HSBC, which has been registering a 20% annual growth in custody and clearing business, was recently voted the number one bank in Malaysia for this sector in 2005 in a survey carried out by Global Custodian magazine under the emerging markets category.

Senior vice-president (custody and clearing) Lim Guat Cheng said unlike in 2005, this year the bank would be adopting the methodology more specifically for all its custody and clearing operations.

“We have completed the adoption of the Six Sigma methodology in the settlement side and are now looking at employing it in the corporate action area to boost our overall efficiency. There are four main areas under the custodian and clearing division – settlement, corporate accounts, administration and reporting.

“By employing the Six Sigma practice, we are able to identify gaps and come up with solutions to improve business processes and meeting customer needs and requirements,'' she said in an interview.



Lim Guat Cheng

Comprehensive training and staff development is another factor which has helped the bank to be the number one provider for such services.

Lim said all the staff under this division had to undergo soft training skills annually in writing, handling telephone calls, time management and other motivational talks as they had to deal with high net worth foreign investors every day.

Most of HSBC Bank's clients in this business are foreign investors in which the bank acts as custodian for their assets invested in Malaysia.

According to Lim, with a staff strength of 65, it is sufficient to handle the job as the division is currently intensifying its automation systems and processes to facilitate customers' needs and requirements.

Apart from the above, HSBC had been providing such services for over 30 years, relatively longer than any other banks in the country, she said. This has given HSBC the added advantage and significant expertise in handling the local market.

In addition to Kuala Lumpur, HSBC group's extensive network provides customer access to 34 markets in the Asia Pacific, Middle East, Latin America and southern Europe regions.