LUXEMBOURG – The European Investment Bank has commenced third party securities lending, appointing Northern Trust Global Investments as its lending agent.

Commenting on the move by the bank to enter into third party securities lending, EIB treasurer Anneli Peschkoff said: “There are a number of portfolios in the Treasury, and some are not mobile. In our government bond portfolio there are securities sitting there that could be safely lent out. So this is where we have set out starting point. It is our ‘pilot’.” EIB currently only has automated lending programmes.

Peschkoff was unsure about how large the portfolio was exactly, but said that at the end of 2001 the EIB’s entire debt portfolio was around 4.5 billion euros, of which the government bond portfolio was the largest.

Northern Trust Global Investments, which has 456 billion dollars in lendable assets, was selected by a committee. “We looked at around 10 to 12 candidates, and the decision by the selection committee to appoint Northern Trust was unanimous.”

Commenting on the latest win, Michael Vadas, senior vice president and head of global securities lending at Northern Trust Global Investors, explained the importance of securities lending: “Third party lending gives organisations access to world-class lending programmes and returns while maintaining their existing custody arrangements.”

Northern Trust provides securities lending to public retirement systems, foundations, insurance companies, investment managers, government bodies and high net worth individuals.