Deutsche Bank’s London-based International prime brokerage platform has obtained a Type 1 SAS 70 certification. The announcement also stated that the scope of the SAS 70 also incorporated Deutsche Bank’s asset segregation platform, Deutsche Bank Integrated Prime Custody.
The certification was completed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and provides an independent assessment of Deutsche Bank’s internal processes and controls.
DB Integrated Prime Custody was launched in December 2009, and aims to hold unencumbered assets that were typically held within their prime brokerage in a separate custody account held at BNY Mellon. The new offering will also enable unencumbered assets to be held within Deutsche Bank’s separate custody division.
SAS 70 allows service organisations to disclose their control activities and processes to their customers.
Deutsche Bank’s co-head of European prime finance and global head of securities lending Anthony Byrne commented: “We are proud to be taking a leading position on the effectiveness and transparency of our control environment through the completion of the SAS 70. Investor and manager feedback has been extremely positive on this development. It is clearly beneficial in an environment where there is a higher level of focus on investor due diligence procedures relating to counterparty risk and asset protection.”
Deutsche Bank’s head of international prime brokerage Simon Kempton said: “The guidance and assistance provided by PWC were invaluable given their expertise in this field and the experience they have gained as administrators in major financial-sector insolvencies.”