Citibank Worldwide Securities Services has been appointed settlement and depository service provider for the Labuan International Financial Exchange in Malaysia's offshore financial centre.
LFX is a Web-based exchange that has been created to trade US dollar-denominated financial instruments and securities. LFX is not subject to the onshore selective capital controls and will be regulated by the Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority (LOFSA), rather than the Malaysia Securities Commission.
Under the appointment, Citibank will provide securities settlement services for the LFX and its trading agents, and US dollar cash clearing services through its New York office.
"This is a natural extension of our clearing product set to be an infrastructural provider to an exchange," says Anthony Galliano, Asia Pacific region head for Citibank's Worldwide Securities Services.
Citi was a member of the settlement system working group of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange and the first custodian to develop a systems interface to the Malaysian Central Depository (MCD) in August 1998.