SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE FORMS JOINT CUSTODY VENTURE WITH STATE BANK OF INDIA

Posted June 5, 2008

MUMBAI – State Bank of India (SBI) and Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS), part of Société Générale Group, have announced a global custody joint venture which will offer securities services in India. SBI and SG will hold 65 percent and 35 percent respectively of the equity in the new company, to be named SBI SG Custodial Services.

“The joint venture’s selling point will be state-of-the-art service delivery to … foreign institutional investors, financial intermediaries or asset management companies,” says Deepak Chawla, Deputy Managing Director, Corporate Strategy and New Business, SBI. “The company will concentrate on … custody, fund administration and various securities services to ensure best practices are followed and customer satisfaction ensured.”

SBI SG Custodial Services, to be based in Mumbai, will serve foreign and domestic investors, with custody, depository, fund administration, registration and transfer agency. SBI will be the first public sector bank in India to offer custody services.

“The Indian securities services market has grown rapidly over the last two to three years and the formation of the joint venture with SBI is part of SGSS’s strategy to cover the emerging markets, especially the Indian sub-continent,” says Alain Closier, Global Head of Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS).

The joint venture will also target an opportunity to aggregate about $7 billion of Indian investments outside the country. SBI already had operated SBI Fund Management as a joint venture with Société Générale Asset Management since 2004.