Citi unveils Custody+ with real-time asset servicing and plans for Bitcoin custody later this year

Citi Investor Services, the institutional infrastructure arm of Citigroup, has rolled out Custody+, a new suite of modular custody infrastructure designed to support institutional investors, as it upgrades its infrastructure for an increasingly always-on capital-markets environment.

The platform combines traditional custody with near- and real-time services, allowing clients to select capabilities that fit their individual workflows and operating models.

Citi plans to extend the platform into digital asset custody later this year, starting with Bitcoin and allowing clients to access traditional and crypto custody capabilities within the same framework.

The launch of Custody+ follows Citi’s completion of the US rollout of its Single Event Processing technology, a key part of the bank’s custody infrastructure overhaul. Citi said more than 80% of all event volume across its network is now processed in real time.

For US voluntary corporate actions, the technology has reduced processing times by up to 92%, while 96% of those events are now processed within two hours, the firm noted.

Custody+ is organized around speed, certainty, intelligence and operational flexibility. Its asset-servicing system processes transactions through a single flow across Citi’s global and domestic custody infrastructure.

Its settlement capabilities connect the process from instruction through final settlement at central securities depositories, with integrated ledgers and real-time data providing transaction visibility across Citi’s 62 proprietary custody markets.

“We have designed each solution to help clients simplify their operating models amid increasing complexities in the operating environment,” Amit Agarwal, Head of Custody at Citi Investor Services, commented on the launch. “Custody+ is our response to their evolving needs as the industry continues to transform, moving away from legacy to next-generation architecture.”

The platform also offers On-Demand FX, combining direct market pricing, flexible active and passive FX strategies, automated hedging and real-time execution.

On the cash side, Citi provides real-time position updates, liquidity sweeping, funding and cash-balance projections. Citi Token Services extends this infrastructure into digital money, enabling near-instantaneous 24/7 transfers of tokenized deposits in selected markets.