SWEDEN - Första AP-Fonden, the First Swedish National Pension Fund or AP1, has awarded a 148 billion-crown (16 billion-euro) global custody brief to ABN Amro Mellon, resulting in a loss for Citigroup, which had held the mandate for 10 years.

AP1 said in a statement that it has decided to appoint ABN Amro Mellon, a joint venture between ABN Amro and Mellon Financial Corp., as its sole provider of global custody and related services. An AP1 spokeswoman said Citibank had been custodian since 1994.

“The candidates have been assessed in terms of delivering services with high quality, a high degree of straight through processing as well as competitive pricing,” she said. “ABN AMRO Mellon has turned out to be the best candidate in that respect.”

She added that the decision was made without the use of an external advisor.

“This mandate win is of great strategic significance to ABN Amro Mellon and I welcome AP1 as our first major client in the Nordic region,” said Nadine Chakar, chief executive of ABN Amro Mellon.

ABN Amro Mellon will provide continuous linked settlement, securities lending and trade matching. The brief will cover AP1’s total holdings, both domestic and foreign.

Citigroup’s custody spokesperson Charlotte Ronan was not immediately available for comment.