BNY Mellon Asset Servicing appointed as global custodian

Published August 19th, 2008 - 12:33 GMT
Al Bawaba
Al Bawaba

BNY Mellon Asset Servicing appointed as global custodian
by Gulf Reinsurance Limited

BNY Mellon Asset Servicing, the global leader in securities servicing, has been selected by Gulf Reinsurance Limited to provide global custody, cash sweep fund and securities lending services.

Gulf Reinsurance is a new specialist reinsurer licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority and based in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).  The company has been established as a 50/50 joint venture by Gulf Investment Corporation, a financial institution owned by the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, and Arch Reinsurance Ltd., a Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance company owned by Arch Capital Group Ltd., and will subscribe to a total of $400m of capital.

Gulf Reinsurance will initially target high-value oil and gas, industrial, utility and transportation assets primarily in the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The company will write a broad range of property and casualty lines of reinsurance, including aviation, energy, commercial transportation, marine, engineered risks and property, on both a treaty and facultative basis.

Hani Kablawi, Managing Director, Head of Middle East & Africa at The Bank of New York Mellon and Senior Executive Officer of the DIFC office, said: “I am delighted that Gulf Reinsurance has selected BNY Mellon Asset Servicing to be its first custodial partner. We have a very strong existing relationship with Arch Capital, and I look forward to building a similarly robust partnership with Gulf Reinsurance. Growing our businesses in the GCC region remains a priority for BNY Mellon, and this latest appointment adds to the considerable momentum we have built up during 2008.”

Shankar Majrekar, Chief Financial Officer at Gulf Reinsurance, said: “The appointment of our first custodian was obviously a crucial decision for us, and we were extremely impressed by the level of expertise, commitment and ‘can do’ attitude displayed by the BNY Mellon Asset Servicing team, as well as by the broad and integrated nature of the product set they are able to offer us.”