Royal Bank of Canada and Dexia agreed to combine their institutional investor services business into RBC Dexia Investor Services, a joint venture that will have about $1.8 trillion in assets under custody and will rank among the top 10 global custodians.
"RBC's institutional services and Dexia Fund Services have tremendous complementary strengths," Jose Placido, executive vice president of RBC Global Services, who will be CEO of the new company, said at a news conference announcing the deal. More than 60% of the new company's assets under custody are for cross-border clients, which "reflects our global perspective and will allow us to develop more innovative services for clients in their local markets." The new company will have clients in 15 countries on four continents, he said.
RBC Dexia Investor Services will be a holding company based in London; operations will be handled mainly by RBC Dexia Investor Services Bank in Luxembourg and RBC Dexia Investor Services Trust in Canada and their respective subsidiaries. The deal, which requires regulatory approval, is scheduled to close in early 2006.
