[ U P D AT E ]
A look back
at the biggest
moments for Soc
Gen’s outgoing
securities
services leader
LOOKING AT SOME OF THE TOP
ACHIEVEMENTS FOR SOCIETE
GENERALE’S OUTGOING HEAD
OF SECURITIES SERVICES,
BRUNO PRIGENT, DURING HIS
TIME AT SGSS.
S
ociete Generale Securities Services
(SGSS) announced its long-serving head,
Bruno Prigent, will retire, marking an end to
a 38-year career with the French bank.
Prigent served as one of the leading
voices for SGSS, in his 27 years within the
securities services division and spearheaded
the expansion of its sub-custody and bro-
ker-dealer outsourcing businesses.
Global Custodian takes a look at some of
Prigent’s top achievements during his time
at SGSS.
Building a new division
Prigent held some of the top positions with-
in securities services for Societe Generale,
including head of fund administration, head
of the depot bank, and in June 2000, was
named head of securities for institutional
services.
In this position, Prigent built the foun-
dations of the SGSS division, which was
established in 2004. Soon after, he became
deputy head of SGSS, before finally being
named head of the division in 2011.
Over a 14-year span, SGSS has grown to
become the second largest custodian in
Europe, with over €4 trillion in assets under
custody in 27 markets worldwide.
Landmark deal
One of the Prigent’s most noteworthy
contributions to the SGSS custody business
was the strategic partnership with UniCredit
signed in 2006, which saw it take on the
securities services business of the Italian
bank. It also became the global custodian
for UniCredit’s subsidiaries, including its
Italian asset manager at the time Pioneer
Investments.
Last year, SGSS extended that global
custody partnership for another 10 years,
marking a milestone in the relationship
between the two parties. Prigent said at the
time the deal underlined “SGSS’s commit-
ment to help its customers navigate in a
financial environment undergoing changes
and provide them [UniCredit] with high
quality services.”
Expanding emerging market reach
Under the leadership of Prigent, SGSS
was also categorised by its expansion of
sub-custody services in emerging markets,
particularly in Africa and Eastern Europe.
Beginning in 2008, Prigent announced
plans to introduce sub-custody and clearing
activities in a series of new locations across
Central and Eastern Europe and Africa.
These included new operations in Bulgaria,
Tunisia, Ghana and Mauritius.
Upgrading custody tech
Prigent also set out to revamp SGSS’s cus-
tody technology. In 2014, the bank launched
a new custody information system (NCIS), a
pan-European system for its local and global
custody businesses. It was then deployed in
2016 in Frankfurt and then in 2017 in Lon-
don. SGSS plans to deploy the technology to
its French custody business in 2019/2020.
SGSS also implemented a Regional Direct
Hub solution, enabling its clients to choose
the single point of entry through which
they will be serviced by SGSS. This meant
the location of operational back-office staff
would no longer be a constraint in terms of
the location of client service.
Following the integration of the Newedge
business in 2014, Prigent also oversaw the
launch of a new integrated offering combin-
ing the clearing business of Newedge with
SGSS’s post-trade derivatives processing
and reporting services.
Front-to-back
The launch of CrossWise was one of the last
major product launches before Prigent’s
retirement announcement. CrossWise, a
solution which would see Soc Gen merge its
front-, middle-, and back-office, provides a
combined outsourcing solution, enabling as-
set managers to outsource as many services
as needed.
The CrossWise service uses investment
manager technology developed by Sim-
Corp Dimension, allowing it to integrate
its expertise and capacities in trading and
securities services.
In June, SGSS signed up the French bro-
ker-dealer arm of UBS as the first client of
the CrossWise service.
Fall 2018
globalcustodian.com
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