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Eurobank
Eurobank – which opened operations here in October 2007, a
few weeks after the financial crisis had begun in earnest and
shortly before Cyprus joined the euro in 2008 – has managed to
attract more responses than any other provider on the island.
As the tables at the back of the survey attest, Eurobank’s scores
here speak of flawless services on every front.
Piraeus Bank Securities Services
Piraeus devoured all or part of seven banks between 2013 and
2015 but it has since stabilised its balance sheet and renewed its
senior management. It has attracted almost as many responses
here as its largest competitor, and at least one client is convinced
that the bank now has the financial strength and the leader-
ship to become an excellent provider of securities services in
Cyprus. “We do count on Piraeus Bank Securities Services for
our clients’ assets’ safety and feel comfortable enough with this
longstanding co-operation to take our core services to the next
level,” he writes. However, client service and relationship man-
agement are two of only three areas in which the average scores
are less than excellent, with clients calling for better trained
staff, more communication and dialogue, tighter adherence to
service goals, and greater willingness to work more closely with
clients. Nevertheless, scores in these categories remain well
within Good range (5.00-5.99).
National Bank of Greece
NBG has a retail presence on the island and also looks to serve
companies both large and small. Its custody service did not
attract enough responses to be assessed in a meaningful way. But
what data was received suggests that the bank is trusted to keep
assets safely, settle transactions expeditiously, offer good value
in cash deposits and foreign currency bargains and keep clients
on the right side of the regulators.
M A R K E T S ]
ESTONIA
SEB
This performance is a triumph of consistency in a market whose
exchange has performed pretty well in recent years. Despite sub-
stantial changes to the length and variety of the questions asked
this year, the overall average score collected by SEB in Tallinn
matches last year exactly. The enlarged questionnaire has the
advantage of teasing out some nuances in the one area of concern
in 2018: value. Closer analysis of the scoring indicates that clients
consider the pricing of the services both competitive and fair, and
they do not doubt that the bank is willing to fix costs and striving
to achieve economies in its own operations. They would just like
SEB to share with them more of the benefits of price reductions
made by Nasdaq CSD. In fact, in most areas where the averages
dip, it reflects not a general level of dissatisfaction but the fact
that respondents raise specific service issues. “Good response
times and overall servicer,” writes a client.
Swedbank
Swedbank may be the largest bank in Estonia and it also claims
to be the largest custodian in the three Baltic states in terms of
assets in custody, but it has not attracted enough responses to
be rated as a custodian here. Looking at the detail of the scores
received, the bank appears to be getting the basics – account
management, asset safety, and technology – right.
Swedbank’s scores are weakest in the areas of cash manage-
ment and FX and pricing. In the area of relationship manage-
ment, customers are asking for tighter integration and richer
and especially faster communications in both day-to-day inter-
actions and larger scale issues. “Relationship management is
good,” as one client puts it. “Sometimes it takes a bit long to get
answers or acknowledgement of receipt.”
Citi
Albeit based on a small number of responses, the average client
appears unenthusiastic in most service areas. However, closer
analysis finds pockets of excellence in settlement, liquidity man-
agement, technology, client service and pricing and even in areas
where Citi has not historically shone, such as account opening
and asset servicing. Risk management scores highest.
Bank of Cyprus
The Cypriot bank, which sold its operations in mainland Greece
to Piraeus back in 2013, services mainly private banking and
wealth management clients which it recruits in part through
representative offices in Moscow, St Petersburg and Kiev. It has
not attracted enough responses to pronounce with confidence
on the quality of the custody services the clients experience, but
the bank is clearly working hard to demonstrate its soundness
and service quality. The dual-listed bank also offers a global cus-
tody service that supports the outbound business of its clients.
BNP Paribas Securities Services
The French bank has serviced Cyprus remotely from Athens
since the Athens and Cyprus stock exchanges moved on to a
common trading platform. After an impressive performance
here last year on every front by value, it failed to attract suffi-
cient responses this year.
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Global Custodian
Spring 2019
ICELAND
Although Iceland enjoyed the ability to restructure its public
debt and its banking industry behind a protective perimeter
of capital controls, enabling the economy to grow at an annual
rate of 3-4% since 2011 – access to its capital markets is still
restricted.