Global Custody Pro - 31 October 2025

Clearstream, Glass Lewis, WisdomTree and more

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Global Custody Pro
October 30, 2025 • Reading Time: 8 minutes

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📰 Welcome to the Newsletter

Welcome to Global Custody Pro, read by custody professionals like you. I'm Brennan McDonald, Managing Editor. I write about the global custody industry, having spent over 12 years in financial services, including working at a global custody bank. An AI voice reads the audio version of this newsletter. Reply to this email with feedback or connect with us on LinkedIn.

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🌏 Global Custody News

Edaa, Clearstream partner on Saudi post-trade services

The Securities Depository Center Company (Edaa), a subsidiary of the Saudi Tadawul Group, and Clearstream, the international central securities depository of Deutsche Börse Group, announced a memorandum of understanding to jointly introduce new post-trade services in the Saudi capital market. The partnership will initially focus on developing the Saudi Collateral Management Service, a centralised triparty collateral management system.

The collaboration builds on Clearstream's 2021 initiative to provide its clients access to the Saudi domestic market through Edaa. Leveraging its global expertise, Clearstream will work with Edaa to advance local post-trade infrastructure and introduce services including collateral management, securities lending and borrowing, fund services, and digital securities. The two central securities depositories aim to enhance the efficiency and attractiveness of the Saudi capital market for both domestic and international investors.

The Saudi Collateral Management Service will provide a centralised, automated triparty collateral management system tailored to the Saudi market. The service is designed to enable optimised and automated financing activities for local financial institutions, increase liquidity in the Saudi market, and provide connectivity to international markets. Hanan Alshehri, CEO of Edaa, stated the partnership represents a step towards enhancing efficiency and liquidity of the Saudi capital market in line with international best practices. Sam Riley, CEO of Clearstream Securities Services, described the collaboration as part of the company's commitment to connecting global investors with emerging markets.

Glass Lewis Ends Benchmark Voting Guidelines

Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis announced it will eliminate its standard benchmark voting recommendations in 2027, instead offering client-specific frameworks aligned with individual investor priorities. The firm will move away from single-set research recommendations in favour of multiple perspectives reflecting varied client viewpoints, with the goal of enabling all clients to vote according to tailored policies by 2027.

The policy change follows several developments reshaping the proxy voting ecosystem. In 2025, the SEC issued guidance narrowing activities passive investors may undertake whilst preserving passive status under Sections 13(d) and 13(g), making investors more cautious about publicising voting policies. The three largest index fund managers have divided proxy voting functions into distinct teams with separate policies, whilst some passive managers have introduced pilot pass-through voting programmes. Glass Lewis and ISS are currently challenging Texas Senate Bill 2337, which requires proxy advisers to disclose when recommendations rely on non-financial factors, with a federal trial scheduled for February 2026.

Skadden partners advise that public companies should monitor proxy adviser developments, map how key shareholders plan to select among customised frameworks, engage strategically with investors during calm periods, and reassess activism vulnerability with counsel. The analysis emphasises that historical support levels may less accurately predict future voting results, requiring companies to prepare contingency strategies for contested or close votes and educate boards on evolving dynamics.

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🚀 Digital Asset News

WisdomTree Appoints BNY for Digital Assets Platform

WisdomTree, Inc. announced it has appointed BNY as its core banking-as-a-service infrastructure provider for WisdomTree Prime, the firm's retail platform for tokenized assets and cryptocurrency. The collaboration positions WisdomTree as BNY's first retail digital assets BaaS client. WisdomTree Prime is the first app to provide access to tokenised funds to U.S. retail investors with stablecoin on and offramps via WisdomTree's stablecoin conversion service.

The partnership facilitates expanded services for users seeking access to tokenised real-world assets. Users can leverage the platform to invest in tokenised RWA and will gain the ability to support onchain transfers across tokenised funds and select stablecoins, including USDC and PYUSD. Jennifer Barker, Global Head of Treasury Services and Depositary Receipts at BNY, said the work with WisdomTree underscores how BNY's infrastructure and demonstrated track record can help power the next generation of financial services. BNY and WisdomTree have a long-standing relationship, with BNY serving as administrator, custodian and sub-adviser on select WisdomTree funds, as well as reserve custodian and banking partner for its USDW stablecoin.

Will Peck, Head of Digital Assets at WisdomTree, stated that stablecoins and tokenised assets are unlocking new user experiences across financial services use cases. The relationship also enables institutional users on WisdomTree Connect to harness existing payment rails to power their investing, reserve management and treasury operations. WisdomTree currently has approximately $139.3 billion in assets under management globally, whilst BNY oversees $57.8 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration and $2.1 trillion in assets under management as of 30 September 2025.

Coinbase Prime, Figment Expand Institutional Staking

Figment Inc., an independent institutional staking provider with $18 billion in assets under stake, announced an expansion of its integration with Coinbase Prime to include multiple Proof-of-Stake networks beyond Ethereum. The companies reported $2 billion in staked assets through their partnership, which began in early 2024 with ETH staking.

The integration enables institutional clients using Coinbase Prime to access Figment's staking infrastructure across networks including Solana, Sui, Aleo, Aptos, Avalanche, Axelar, Cardano, Celestia, Cosmos, EigenLayer, NEAR and Polkadot. Clients can stake tokens without moving assets out of Coinbase's custody solution, managing staking operations alongside trading and financing through a single platform. Figment serves over 1,000 institutional clients across 40-plus protocols and is the largest non-custodial staking provider of staked Ethereum and Solana.

The companies most recently supported Grayscale Investments in launching the first U.S. Ethereum ETP with staking. Lewis Han, Head of Staking Sales at Coinbase, stated the expansion gives institutions more flexibility to select staking providers while maintaining institutional-grade controls and secure custody, supporting network decentralization and validator diversity on the platform.

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