American assets manager Northern Trust has established its European bank in Luxembourg, underscoring its focus and growth strategy in continental Europe.
Image: Northern Trust Bank in Lasalle Street, Chicago. Photo: Courtesy of Beyond My Ken/Wikipedia.org.
Named as Northern Trust Global Services Societas Europaea (NTGS SE), the bank will be headquartered in Luxembourg and with branches in the UK, Netherlands, Sweden and Abu Dhabi.
The bank will continue providing its global products and services after the UK leaves the European Union. But, its EMEA headquarters will remain in London, UK.
Northern Trust chairman and CEO Michael O’Grady said: “2019 is a milestone year for Northern Trust. It marks both the establishment of our EU bank in Luxembourg and half a century since we opened our London office, the first Northern Trust office outside North America.”
The Chicago, Illinois-headquartered financial services provider claims that its presence in Luxembourg has grown steadily since its first establishment in 2004. The acquisition of fund administration servicing units of UBS Asset Management in Switzerland and Luxembourg in 2017 has been touted as the foundation for its growth in Luxembourg.
The company is now one of the top fund administrators in the country, with complementary fund administration centres of excellence in Dublin, Guernsey and Limerick.
Northern Trust EMEA president Teresa Parker said: “As an industry, we have seen tremendous change over the last 50 years. Our clients face increased pressure to generate returns and enhance efficiencies against the backdrop of challenging markets, cost and regulatory change.
“With the establishment of our Luxembourg-based bank, which is backed by the strength, scale and 130-year heritage of a global organization and underpinned by continuous technological innovation, we are exceptionally well placed to support our clients’ future goals and objectives.”
David Wicks has been appointed as the CEO of the new bank along with Steve David being named as the chief operating officer and Thierry Lopez as the chief risk officer.
Recently, Northern Trust stated that it has completed its 50 year presence across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Last December, the company acquired BEx, a foreign exchange (FX) software solutions provider. The acquisition is expected to give Northern Trust, a platform to provide algorithmic FX trading, global liquidity aggregation and transparency in execution and pricing to institutional clients across the world.