EUROPE - The Bank of New York has announced two acquisitions, involving a Luxembourg fund services firm and Standard & Poor’s institutional brokerage arm.

The bank said it has acquired Luxembourg-based transfer agency and registrar services firm Continental Fund Services for an undisclosed sum.

CFS provides retail transfer agency and registrar services to Luxembourg SICAVs run by two US fund management companies, Davis Selected Advisers and Alger Associates.

“As a leader in the transfer agency business, we continue to realize the benefits of select opportunities created by industry consolidation,” said Tim Keaney, the bank’s head of Europe.

“While smaller transfer agency companies find it increasingly difficult to keep pace with developments in technology, regulation and distribution, we have the scale and commitment to ensure that our transfer agency platform, GTA, and software help clients anticipate changing market demands.”

Meanwhile, the bank has also formed an alliance with S&P to let investment managers get S&P’s investment research and corporate data products.

Its BNY Brokerage arm would buy “certain of the assets and liabilities of Standard & Poor’s Securities” - S&P’s institutional brokerage subsidiary. Terms were not disclosed.

As a result of the alliance, BNY Brokerage will assume SPSI’s client relationships, providing them with a wide range of direct market access and broker-assisted capabilities that offer choice in trading models.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is currently expected to close at the end of February 2005.

S&P is selling the business to “focus on its core business of providing independent research, data and analysis”.

“We are delighted to create this important strategic alliance with Standard & Poor’s, the largest provider of independent equity research and corporate data,” said Joseph Velli, head of BNY Securities Group.

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