Buyers of custodial services, and especially those using global or regional intermediaries, may want to consider a number of issues such as:

t What advantages and disadvant-ages does the buyer get from using suppliers with either predominantly in-house networks or predominantly agent networks?

t What advantages and disadvant-ages does the buyer get from using suppliers who link direct with local markets, rather than using a global or regional intermediary?

t How many agents used by a supplier have specifically been selected for the global securities services business (versus the use of existing correspondent banks)?

t Do the suppliers, buyers, regulat-ors and their advisors fully un-derstand the strengths and weak-nesses of the central securities depositories (CSDs) used in each country - assuming a fully oper-ational CSD exists?

Two critical factors in examining these issues are the development of a supplier's foreign network, and the extent to which suppliers link directly into the local securities clearing, settlement and/or CSD systems, or use a local intermediary to interface with those systems.

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