SGSS Sets Up Custody Services in Tunisia

Societe Generale Securities Services (SGSS) is developing custody services offerings in Tunisia.

Located in Tunis within the Union Internationale de Banques (UIB), a subsidiary of the Societe Generale group, SGSS is providing a new custody platform in line with international standards. This platform will allow SGSS to become the first international player to provide custody services in Tunisia to a clientele of local and international institutional investors.

SGSS’ intent was first announced in the fall of 2012. Building on its Moroccan operation, the Tunis offering represents a further step in SGSS’ strategy to become a major securities services player on the African continent, a region which is undergoing rapid growth.

In Tunisia, SGSS may offer an alternative in what one investor in our Emerging Markets survey called a “monopolistic situation.” Other banks in the region include the Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie (BIAT) and Amen Bank. SGSS will also have to consider Tunisia’s political volatility as it expands its services there.

SGSS in Johannesburg already provides securities services in South Africa and Mauritius; in West Africa, SGSS will soon be expanding its presence to Ghana.