German truck maker and engineering group MAN has hired BNP Paribas as the global custodian for its contractual trust arrangement (CTA) – an external fund the engineering group set up last year to finance pension liabilities.
BNP Paribas said that under the mandate, it would provide global custody, accounting and investment compliance monitoring for e500m in assets to be invested by MAN’s CTA.
Last June, IPE broke the news that MAN was removing e1.7bn in pension liabilities from its balance sheet to have them ultimately financed via a CTA.
The firm, listed on Germany’s blue-chip Dax index, said the move followed its adoption of International Accounting Standards (IAS).
Following this MAN hired consultant Rauser Towers Perrin to advise it on the construction of the contracted trust.