SAN Banco Santander SA

By WSJ City 

Spain's Banco Santander and France's Crédit Agricole are to combine their custody and asset-servicing operations, creating a EUR3.34 trillion custodian business with more scale to compete.

KEY FACTS

--- Custodial banks secure assets for clients such as large institutional investors and fund managers.

--- The deal comes as European banks consolidate, struggling with low returns and high costs.

--- Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank are currently in talks about a potential merger.

--- The new entity, which is subject to approval, will be the third largest in the eurozone by assets under custody.

--- European custodial banks are smaller than US peers, like State Street.

Details

Santander will transfer its S3 business, which covers Spain and Latin America to CACEIS, the asset-servicing arm of Crédit Agricole.Santander and Crédit Agricole said the impact of the joint-venture on capital and earnings per share won't be material.

A fuller story is available on WSJ.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 17, 2019 10:44 ET (14:44 GMT)

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