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A G E N T
B A N K S
I N
M A J O R
M A R K E T S ]
Norway
SEB
Three out of four average scores, created by a demanding
clientele, speak of strong and consistent service by SEB. The
details behind the averages suggest the human side of client
relationships is in robust health, even in the more testing field
of being open to new ideas. Core services, including settlement,
asset safety and account management, are equally healthy. More
encouragingly still, the results indicate rising expectations.
The scoring of the technology platform, for example, is highly
respectable, but one client is still looking for more from its re-
porting capabilities. “SEB’s website is stable but has not changed
much in the years we have been using it,” he writes. “We would
appreciate being able to run scheduled reports, which are
emailed out from the system – right now the data on the site
must be accessed by the customer logging on.” At SEB Oslo, as
elsewhere, there is always room for improvement in asset-ser-
vicing, and SEB clients share the appetite – it is something of a
theme in this survey – for greater transparency in cash manage-
ment and FX execution. No bank is winning prizes for helping
clients economise on capital, liquidity and collateral, or pricing
of the core services, and SEB is no exception.
Nordea
The averages mask the strength of this performance. Assess-
ments of the quality of Nordea as a counterparty vary by the
question, but the average client believes their cash and securities
are as safe as they can be in this market. Leading questions are
also liable to dent the confidence of respondents in the open-
ness and competitiveness of the price of risk-taking services
in particular. The score for technology is vitiated by similar
considerations. It is, in any event, likely to prove backward-look-
ing, now that the bank has embarked on a programme to digitise
the whole of its business. The scoring of client service, if not
relationship management, suggests the bank is hitting its target
of striking a balance between centralised operational processing
and the maintenance of local expertise.
Handelsbanken Securities Services
There is not enough data yet to measure accurately the strength
of the Handelsbanken comeback in this market, but the respons-
es that were received are rich in anticipation of the improve-
ments to come from the investments in people and technology.
In Oslo, the bank has benefited from the withdrawal of one of
the last stand-alone custodians, which will equip it with a base
of Norway-only clients to add to the larger number that require
a regional offering.
DNB
DNB has elected to withdraw from Norwegian krone custody
business for foreign clients, though it will continue to provide
both domestic and global custody services to its institutional
clients in Norway. The DNB swansong, delivered by a small
number of clients, is a fitting one: excellent RMs, great local
knowledge, and impeccable core services, plus a noticeable
sense of absence from the future.
WEIGHTED AVERAGE SCORES
SEB Nordea Bank Handelsbanken DNB
Market share (% of responses) 50% 25% 14% 11%
Relationship management 5.61 5.20 4.09 n/a
Market Average Global Average
5.29 5.20
Client service 6.02 5.60 4.09 n/a 5.43 5.40
Account management 5.86 5.87 5.40 n/a 5.84 5.44
Asset safety 5.57 6.06 4.56 n/a 5.68 5.68
Risk management 5.67 4.99 2.88 n/a 5.31 5.46
n/a 4.57 4.89
4.63 n/a 5.56 5.64
Liquidity management 4.28 5.59
Regulation and compliance 5.42 5.87
Innovation 5.52 5.07 4.45 n/a 5.13 5.18
Asset servicing 4.94 5.16 3.73 n/a 5.01 5.09
n/a 4.74 4.82
4.80 n/a 5.29 5.28
Pricing 4.50 4.90
Technology 5.54 4.98
Cash management and FX 4.27 4.28 4.44 n/a 4.35 4.25
Total 5.36 5.34 4.23 n/a 5.28 5.24
Fall 2018 globalcustodian.com
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