SPAIN – Banco Sabadell has awarded BNP Paribas Securities Services a €5.8bn global custody mandate for its international fixed income portfolio which includes the investments of its pension fund.

BNP Paribas said Sabadell transferred the portfolio to its Madrid office. It is the first time the bank has selected BNP Paribas, spokesman Julio Carlavilla told IPE.

Adriá Galián, financial markets director for Banco Sabadell, said the acquisition of Banco Atlantico had accelerated the move to consolidate the fixed income portfolio under a single provider.

“The objective was to have access to a global product offer and a level of service that would match our expectations. We opted for BNPPSS due to their expertise as a service provider of Banco Atlantico” Galián said.

Alvaro Camuñas, general manager of BNP Paribas Securities Services in Spain, said: “This significant mandate confirms our growing success in Spain, thanks to our strategy of being closer to our clients”.

Spokesman Carlavilla explained the mandate entails custody of the bank’s international fixed income investments, including those made by the pension fund.

A Sabadell spokeswoman said the bank had many pension arrangements. She declined to quantify their total value but said the most consistent pension scheme was worth around €200m. It was not possible to quantify the pension scheme’ allocation to global fixed income.

Separately, Emilio Botin, president of the country’s largest bank, Banco Santander Central Hispano, is set to face trial on Wednesday for alleged “ pension irregularities”.

Botin, whose trial was postponed from January 10, would face a jail sentence between six and 12 years, if the court finds that he broke the law when awarded “improper pensions” to former joint president José María Amusátegui and vice president Ángel Corcóstegui in 2001 and 2002.

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