Societe Generale Securities Services (SGSS) says that Fitch Ratings has upgraded its custody rating from “CU2” to “CU2+”, the second best grade on the Fitch scale, and maintained its Trustee rating of “TR2+”. These ratings are for the Investor Services Department of the Paris-based Global Custody and Trustee activities of Societe Generale Securities Services.
According to the ratings agency, the custody rating upgrade reflects “the high level of service provided in the custody business.” Fitch highlights “the strengthening of permanent risk surveillance procedures and the implementation of effective risk control and reporting tools.”
This upgrade also takes into account the finalisation of a number of projects initiated in 2004, the stability of the organisation, the reinforcement of the sales structure and the sharing of offerings between the different Societe Generale Securities Services entities.
In particular, Fitch mentioned the quality of the management of the new pan-European platform for Global Custody and Trustee functions, the first stage of which has been successfully implemented; implementation of a CRM tool; and development of new products offerings such as on-line remote proxy voting, and private equity funds registrar software.
Fitch says the upholding of the “TR2+” Trustee rating is a reflection of the stability and experience of the teams dedicated to trustee functions as well as the high quality of the IT platform used. It is also evidence of on-going improvements to procedures and the continuing efforts in IT developments which aim to increase automatic controls, says the ratings agency.
“The improvement of our rating to the second best possible rating highlights our ability to adapt our offering in an increasingly competitive pan-European environment, while maintaining a high level of quality,” says Bruno Prigent, Head of Investor Services at Societe Generale Securities Services.