The Australian Custodial Services Association (ACSA) has announced the winners of the 2010 ACSA Awards.
Presented at the ACSA/Investment Magazine 2010 Investment Administration Conference dinner in Sydney last month, the awards recognise outstanding contributors to the Australian custody and investment administration industry.
Denise Hartman of BNP Paribas, Lisa Simmons of Blake Dawson and Andrew Gibson of Citi Global Transaction services were announced as winners, all demonstrating a high level of professionalism, knowledge and willingness to contribute to the custody and investment administration industry.
ACSA director Robert Brown said the ACSA Board was pleasantly surprised at the level of peer recognition within the industry, and received a number of strong nominations.
“ACSA values the contribution of all working group members and is also pleased to use the awards as a means of recognising a small number of individuals who, in the eyes of their fellow industry members, have made a substantial contribution to the positive development of the custody sector,” Brown said.
The ACSA awards recognise individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the industry, members, clients and ACSA itself.
Denise Hartman, Learning and Development Manager with BNP Paribas (Sydney) and chair of ACSA’s Professional Development Working Group, has been recognised for her lead role in guiding ACSA’s development of an accredited industry training module for custody practitioners. Launched in March 2009, the ACSA Institute offers a range of education opportunities to promote the professional development of employees working within Australia’s growing custody sector. Hartman’s contribution has been instrumental in driving not only the launch but a successful first year of courses through her active championing of the training agenda amongst member firms, coordinating the training provider and achieving excellent results and feedback from professionals undergoing the courses.
Lisa Simmons, a Sydney based partner with law firm Blake Dawson, has generously contributed her time and expertise to the ACSA Regulatory Working Group. She has been instrumental in helping members understand and influence issues raised by regulators and interpreting new policies and law. Simmons has provided assistance with drafting submissions and interaction with regulators across a diverse range of issues including Share Purchase Plans, Anti Money Laundering/Counter Terrorism Financing rules, Corporations Act disclosures, and the application of the Hague Securities Convention to Australia.
Andrew Gibson, Product Manager, Citi Global Transaction Services in Melbourne, has been awarded for his contribution to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of custodian operations in the Australian market. In particular, Gibson has worked on numerous papers, projects and submissions as part of the ACSA Corporate Actions Working Group including the refinement of Share Purchase Plans processing and the problems of late notification of debt instrument interest rate changes to the market.
In presenting the awards, Bryan Gray, Chair of ACSA, thanked the three winners on behalf of ACSA for their enormous contributions to the custody industry.
“Each recipient of this award has gone above and beyond what was required from them. They have committed their skills, time and expertise to influencing regulatory change, providing training and improving the efficiency of the Australian custody sector – not just for ACSA members but also for our clients and in turn their own underlying customers, who are everyday Australian savers and investors,” Gray said.
