ING Bank (Eurasia), Russia’s largest custodian bank, has acquired Credit Suisse First Boston’s custody business in Russia.
The acquisition adds 140 clients to ING Bank (Eurasia)’s existing client base of 300 – an increase of almost 50% – and boosts assets in custody by $2bn (e2.5bn) to $18.2bn.
CSFB says it sold its Russian custody business as part of a strategy of focusing on global business. “The divestiture is consistent with CSFB’s programme of strategic business rationalisation,” says Brady Dougan, managing director and global head of CSFB’s securities division.
One of the attractions of the acquisition to ING Bank (Eurasia) is the CSFB client base. More than 90% of CSFB’s clients are western investors, compared with 60% of ING Bank (Eurasia)’s clients. ING will now be providing custody services for the bulk of foreign investors in Russia.

Topics