Northern Trust has officially set up a securities lending trading desk in its Sydney office.

The move follows a series of client wins in the country and the recent acquisition of institutional equity brokerage business Aviate Global.

Bun Eng has been named a senior trader and client executive for securities lending clients in Australia and New Zealand.

Kia Oboudiyat, senior sales representative for foreign exchange,  will be responsible for providing client services support and exploring sales opportunities across the Asia-Pacific region.

“We are delighted to establish a capital markets presence in Australia,” said Dane Fannin, head of capital markets, Asia-Pacific Northern Trust. “Growing Northern Trust’s geographic footprint in the region maximizes trading capabilities and service for our clients.”

“Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing region for Northern Trust and Australia is an important part of that growth,” adds Madeleine Senior, head of Australia and New Zealand at Northern Trust.

“Our Australian clients are institutional investors with sophisticated requirements and expanding our capital markets business ensures we are best placed to continue to support them, directly from our offices in Australia.”