Standard Chartered to Buy Zodia Custody, Spin Out Zodia Solutions

Standard Chartered has agreed to acquire the regulated institutional custody business of Zodia Custody and will integrate those operations into its Corporate and Investment Bank’s Financing and Securities Services division. Zodia Custody’s technology and infrastructure platform will separate as Zodia Solutions, a standalone software-as-a-service company housed in SC Ventures.

A non-binding offer for the regulated custody business was accepted by Zodia Custody’s shareholders and noteholders. The licensed custody operations that hold client assets will move onto Standard Chartered’s balance sheet and into the bank’s regulatory perimeter.

The bank said it is placing regulated custody inside Financing and Securities Services because that unit already handles securities custody, clearing and financing for institutional clients. The bank expects housing digital asset custody in the same division will bring the operations under its capital and regulatory framework.

Zodia Solutions will operate as a SaaS and platform provider for institutions that want institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure without becoming regulated custodians. Julian Sawyer, the current CEO of Zodia Custody, will lead Zodia Solutions after the separation. The companies said Standard Chartered will remain a customer of the spun-out platform.

Zodia Solutions’ revenue model will not be directly linked to assets under custody in the way a custodial business is, and it will serve a range of institutional clients, including firms that compete with the bank. SC Ventures will host the platform to allow commercial flexibility while keeping access to Standard Chartered’s distribution relationships.

Standard Chartered and Zodia said existing clients should see no operational disruption during the transition as custody services transfer to the bank’s institutional securities services arm and platform services continue under Zodia Solutions. Shareholders and noteholders have accepted the proposed terms and the parties are moving toward implementation.

Market activity in 2026 includes banks and asset managers filing tokenized fund structures, deploying regulated stablecoin variants and joining distributed ledger networks for settlement and collateral. The transaction separates regulated custody from the technology platform and keeps the platform commercially independent under SC Ventures.