Northern Trust has gained regulatory approval to offer local custody, depositary, transfer agency and ancillary services to institutional investors and managers in Switzerland.
The new Depotbank service will be led by Marco Wiegmann, who will be responsible for all Swiss custody, transfer agency and depositary services.
Wiegmann joined Northern Trust in September last year, having spent over 10 years at RBC Investor and Treasury Services (RBC I&TS) in Zurich.
The launch of the service comes more than three years after Northern Trust expanded its presence in Switzerland following its acquisition of UBS Asset Management’s fund administration servicing units in Luxembourg and Switzerland.
“Our new capabilities in Switzerland are a further landmark in our long-term depositary growth strategy and underscore Northern Trust’s continuing strategic focus on building our business across continental Europe, strengthening our position as a market leader in offering innovative asset servicing solutions to clients across the region,” said Clive Bellows, head of global fund services, EMEA, Northern Trust.
The approval marks the latest move by Northern Trust to expand its footprint in the EMEA region. Earlier this year, it opened a new office in Norway and was granted approval to provide onshore depositary services to Norwegian asset owners and asset managers.
Northern Trust has more than 30 years of experience in providing an extensive range of asset servicing and investment solutions to Swiss clients and is a leading fund administrator.
“We’re pleased to continue to expand our local capabilities, demonstrating our commitment to this strategically important market. This key milestone in our growth strategy supports our important client franchise, which includes some of the world’s most sophisticated asset owners and asset managers, and consolidates our position as a premier asset servicing partner in Switzerland,” added Wim van Ooijen, head of Northern Trust in Switzerland.