Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) is the latest custodian bank and fund administrator to open a full-service operation in Poland. The new facility, which is expected to employ 200 to 300 people within the first two years, will offer fund accounting, transfer agency and some custody services to the global client base of the bank.
Boston-raised Mike McDonald, a BBH veteran who was previously the managing director in Dublin responsible for the trustee company, has relocated to Krakow to begin recruiting staff. The firm is currently putting infrastructure into place and plans to begin servicing clients from the Polish operation by the end of the summer.
BBH has notified regulators and authorities in the jurisdictions where it has offices and received the required regulatory approvals for the new office.
Sean Pairceir, a BBH partner based in Dublin, says the investment is designed primarily to increase capacity rather than cut costs.
Unlike the India operation opened recently by BBH, the firm has elected in Poland not work with a third-party provider.
Pairceir says a captive makes it easier to attract local talent, and gives BBH greater scope to expand the operation into new areas over time.
BBH joins other leading banks, including Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, State Street and UBS, in having an operation in Poland.
(DSH)