Mr Braga will succeed incumbent ACSA Chair Pierre Jond of BNP Paribas, who is returning to France to take up a new role within the French bank.

“On behalf of ACSA I would like to thank Pierre Jond for his involvement in the association and for his strong leadership as Chair,” Mr Braga said.

“Over the past two years, Pierre has broadened the role of ACSA as a representative body for custodians and strengthened our position within the broader financial services sector.”

Mr Braga has been an active participant in ACSA and has been a member of the Association’s executive committee since 2011. For the past year he has been executive sponsor of the Association’s regulatory & compliance working group and its Stronger Super Taskforce, representing the views of the custody industry to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) and policymakers in relation to the vast array of legislative change impacting custodians and their clients. Prior to this, Mr Braga was executive sponsor of ACSA’s communication working group.

“I am delighted to be elected as Chair of ACSA and it is an honour to take on this role. I look forward to representing the interests of the custody and investment administration industries and furthering our common goal: to ensure that Australia has an efficient, world-renowned financial market,” Mr Braga said.

“Custodians play an important role across the financial sector providing a strong foundation for superannuation funds and asset managers. As the voice of the custodian, ACSA will continue to work with industry partners during this period of unprecedented change to provide clear guidelines on what standards custodians will be held to as we plan for the future.”

Christine Bartlett, Executive General Manager, Asset Servicing at National Australia Bank has been elected ACSA Deputy Chair. She takes over from Paul Khoury of State Street who has stepped down from the role following two years as Deputy Chair and five years as an ACSA Executive.

Australia has a sophisticated and competitive custodian market with latest ACSA research showing total assets under custody for Australian investors grew by 6.7% to $2.16 trillion to 30 June 2013.

ACSA is the peak representative body for custodians and features seven working groups – with over 100 representatives of member organisations – working with government, regulators and other industry participants on issues related to custody and outsourcing.

Changes in regulation and market practice continue to place demands on custodians to ensure they provide effective solutions for clients – typically large superannuation funds, investment managers, as well as overseas investors and brokers.

Recent activity has included consultation with APRA on the implementation of MySuper; close negotiation with ASIC on the implications of RG 133; and working with the ASX on solutions to clearing and settlement processes.

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