The $330 million East Bay Municipal Utility District Employees' Retirement System, Oakland, Calif., plans to search for a custodian, said Lloyd J. Sawchuk, treasury manager. It will issue RFPs ``as soon as we can administratively get to it, probably in a couple of months,'' he said. The idea would be for the new custodian to take over Jan. 1, 1997, he added. William M. Mercer will assist. The system wants to see what's available in the market in prices and services.
``The market is more competitive than it was 10 years ago,'' he said, when the system last searched for a custodian and hired First Interstate Bank of California. The system also is concerned about the pending merger of First Interstate and Wells Fargo Bank. The system hired First Interstate after Wells Fargo acquired Crocker Bank, then the system's custodian, and sold its custody services, he noted.
