UK - The £718m (€1bn) local authority pension fund of the London Borough of Islington has renewed a global custody mandate with Bank of New York Mellon for another two years.

The fund had already reappointed the bank's asset servicing branch in 2004, following a full tender procedure at the end of a six-year contract.

Islington has now decided to extend the agreement for another two years to 2009.

"We are pleased to be extending our partnership with BNY Mellon Asset
Servicing," said Andy Nutter, officer at The London Borough of Islington, in a statement.

"After a thorough review of the market, we decided that BNY Mellon Asset Servicing remains best-placed to meet the pension fund's service requirements."

This is one of the first major mandate renewals by a European pension fund since the merger of the Bank of New York and Mellon last year.

"Client response to the merger between The Bank of New York and Mellon so far has been extremely welcoming and positive," BNY Mellon said in a statement.

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