Deutsche GSS Sale Imminent

The sale of parts of Deutsche Global Securities Services (GSS) is approaching a conclusion. An announcement is expected within days. Reuters reports today that analysts believe State Street is the buyer, but this is unconfirmed and to some extent contradicts earlier speculation that Bank of New York was the front-runner. A degree of confusion is understandable. There are indications that Deutsche has struggled to sell the whole of GSS to a single buyer, and that the bank has had to sweeten the sale of parts it does not wish to retain with parts it would prefer to keep. What will likely be kept, however, is the local subcustodian network that Deutsche Bank has built up in Europe and Asia. But institutional investors, whether rump Deutsche bank clients or former Bankers Trust clients, are about to find themselves with a different master trust/global custody bank.