Skip navigation links

Escrow & agency services

We offer flexible and integrated escrow services, providing efficient administration and risk mitigation for your transactions.

Become a client

Increasingly complex and multi-jurisdictional business transactions demand efficient administration and risk mitigation.

This frequently requires funds, other assets or paperwork to be placed in escrow until various conditions are met.

Choosing the right escrow agent is therefore crucial to the completion of your business transactions.

As one of the world’s leading financial services organizations, Citi can serve as a neutral third-party escrow and depository agent.

We can receive, safeguard, service and disburse assets, including cash, securities and physical documents.

Through our Private Bank escrow team, Citi can facilitate a broad range of transactions in escrow.

These include mergers and acquisitions, litigation and settlement, restructuring.

We can also facilitate specialized or tailored transactions, involving environment, entertainment and sports, estate settlement, and private equity, ERISA and SPAC.

Escrowed securities are held in fully segregated accounts, separate from the assets of Citi.

Our dedicated and experienced escrow specialists stand ready to help meet your expectations and turnaround time.

Our escrow team works with clients to drive execution of escrow accounts associated with Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Restructuring, Litigation and other major transactions that require a level of risk mitigation.

Murtuza Rasiwala
Head of Banking, Custody, Escrow and MSBF - Americas

How we serve you

Flexible solutions
We can adapt your existing escrow agreement – including those from other institutions – or utilize our customizable standard agreement.

You can combine closing, paying and disbursing agent services with escrow agency services, utilizing a single provider for your post-closing needs.

We offer a range of cash deposit accounts1, with varied tenors and interest-bearing choices, including US-based foreign currency-denominated accounts (FDIC insured), and investment custody accounts with sweep capability into various investment vehicles.

Security, transparency & integration
In addition to keeping assets safe, our escrow service offers transparency and access to related services.

We hold escrowed securities in fully segregated accounts,separate from the assets of Citi.

We enable the monitoring of daily escrow account activity, recordkeeping, and reporting.

We also provide access to foreign exchange trading, world-class investment management, and global payment services.

Global execution
Our local escrow services are augmented with access to Citi’s global network spanning 160+ countries and jurisdictions.

We offer US-based foreign currency denominated accounts,1 trading services, including foreign exchange capabilities, as well as cash management and payment services for seamless cross-border execution.

Meet our people

Global Head

Murtuza Rasiwala

Head of Banking, Custody, Escrow & Margin lending
“Our dedicated team is experienced in structuring bespoke strategies to provide clients liquidity using their financial assets as collateral”

Murtuza leads a team of banking, custody, escrow and margin and securities backed lending professionals, who work with clients in North America and Latin America to address their financing, liquidity, safeguarding, portfolio administration, and risk mitigation needs.

Murtuza has over 15 years of private banking and margin lending experience. Previously, he was the Global Head of Margin and Securities Backed Lending at Citi Private Bank. Earlier in his career, he was a member of the Private Bank Investment Finance team for nine years, based in Asia. 

Murtuza holds an MBA in finance and the Chartered Financial Analyst and Financial Risk Manager designations.

Global Head

Murtuza Rasiwala

Head of Banking, Custody, Escrow & Margin lending
“Our dedicated team is experienced in structuring bespoke strategies to provide clients liquidity using their financial assets as collateral”
Contact us

To help put you in touch with the right Private Bank team, please answer the following questions.

1In the Americas, deposit products are booked in the US through Citibank, N.A., Member FDIC. Not CDIC insured. In the Americas, custody services are provided by Citibank, N.A. in the US.

Escrow and agency services are not available in Hong Kong and Singapore.