BNY Mellon Lands A Big Ally For Expansion In Saudi Arabia

Bank of New York Mellon Corp., the world’s largest custody bank, is pushing deeper into Saudi Arabia through a deal with an arm of the country’s biggest bank.

The firm joined NCB Capital, a unit of National Commercial Bank, to seek institutional investors in the kingdom for BNY Mellon’s “global custody and associated asset-servicing activities”, according to a statement released on Tuesday.

Under the agreement, investors could have all of their custody needs handled by BNY Mellon and NCB Capital instead of using multiple providers across regions. NCB Capital is the kingdom’s biggest asset manager and investment bank.

“This is about putting their local market reach and client base together with our global connectivity and capability set and giving them and their clients that access that they wouldn’t have otherwise,” Hani Kablawi, BNY Mellon’s chairman of international, said in an interview.

BNY Mellon in July received conditional regulatory approval to establish a presence in Riyadh and open an office there after applying for a custody license from Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority last year. Kablawi didn’t say when the office might open.

Under CEO Todd Gibbons, BNY Mellon has been looking to boost share in asset servicing, expand outside the U.S. and deepen relationships with longstanding clients.

Akash Shah, BNY’s head of strategy and global client management, called the deal a “win-win” for both the New York-based firm and the Saudi bank.

“This is an opportunity to create a home-grown hero who can extend their capabilities globally through our reach and for us to access the market through our partnership with them,” Shah said.