Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, issued an invitation to negotiate in a search for a global master custodian for the $154.1 billion in funds it oversees.
Bank of New York Mellon is the global master custodian for all the funds the board oversees.
Its contract for the Florida Retirement System’s $125.7 billion defined benefit plan expires in 2012. Its contract for the Florida Retirement System’s $6.1 billion defined contribution plan expires at the end of the year.
BNY Mellon can rebid.
On Feb. 3, Florida Attorney General Pamela Jo Bondi, who is one of the three FSBA trustees, filed a notice in Leon County Circuit Court in Tallahassee that she will seek to take over a lawsuit alleging Bank of New York Mellon overcharged the FSBA for foreign exchange fees.
The suit was initially filed by FX Analytics on Nov. 9, 2009, on behalf of the state of Florida and seeks triple the damages and other penalties.
The attorney general hasn’t yet filed its complaint of intervention in the case, Jennifer Krell Davis, deputy communications director and press secretary for the Florida attorney general’s office, wrote Thursday in an e-mail. Information on when Ms. Bondi plans to make the filing was not available.
BNY Mellon has denied the allegations, saying they are without merit.
The search for global master custody and related services includes custodial support for securities lending programs without assuming the custodian or an affiliate will serve as a lending agent. The board “may evaluate the potential use of custodial agent lending affiliates on a custodial or third-party basis at a later date,” the ITN states.
R.V. Kuhns, a consultant, is assisting in the global master custodial search.
The invitation to negotiate is available on the Florida board’s website, www.sbafla.com/fsb/Vendors.aspx. Responses are due April 21.
The board expects to make a selection May 27.
