CACEIS and Royal Bank of Canada sign a MoU on the proposed acquisition of RBC Investor Services operations in Europe
Royal Bank of Canada has agreed to sell the European asset servicing activities of RBC Investor Services and its associated Malaysian centre of excellence.
The Canadian banking group has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Paris-based CACEIS to acquire the unit which includes custody, global custody FX, fund administration, transfer agency, middle office and securities lending.
RBC Investor Services has assets under administration (AuA) in Europe of around 1.2 trillion euros and assets under custody (AuC) of around half a trillion euros.
The combination with CACEIS would give the enlarged entity around 3.5 trillion euros in AuA and 4.8 trillion in AuC based on figures at the end of March 2022.
Canadian focus
Francis Jackson, CEO of RBC Investor Services, says he is proud of the business that they have built in Europe, but that the combination makes sense from both a global and domestic point of view.
"This is an opportunity for our European clients to enjoy the combined scale of RBC Investor Services' European business and Malaysia centre of excellence and CACEIS' global footprint, while allowing us to focus on our Canadian asset services franchise in our home market,” he said.
He added that the firm is confident that this proposed transaction will bring benefits to its clients and employees.
The execution of the final agreements between CACEIS and RBC requires prior consultation with the relevant works councils of CACEIS. With regulatory requirements, the completion of the deal is not expected until the third quarter of 2023.
Who is CACEIS?
CACEIS is the asset servicing banking group of Crédit Agricole S.A. and Santander dedicated to asset managers, insurance companies, pension funds, banks, private equity and real estate funds, brokers and corporate clients.
It is one of the world leaders in asset servicing with offices in Europe, North and South America, and Asia.
"This combination with RBC Investor Services helps us consolidate our position as a leading European player in asset servicing,” commented Jean-François Abadie, CEO of CACEIS. “We are enhancing our leadership across a range of services, increasing our position in a number of key markets, growing relationships with global asset managers, and increasing our capabilities and scale. Additionally, the staff from RBC Investor Services will bring their expert knowledge of the servicing needs of international investor clients and distribution services."
