As part of the deal, which does not include GTS’s US business, Butterfield will partner with Deutsche Bank to provide trust solutions to Deutsche’s clients.
On completion, Butterfield will take over almost 1,000 trust structures for some 900 private clients, addings an Asia presence, which is a key growth market for Butterfield.
The firm is offering positions to all GTS employees in the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Switzerland, Singapore and Mauritius to “ensure continuity of service for clients”.
Asia presence
“Trust is a core business for us, and the acquisition of the Deutsche Bank Global Trust Solutions business enables us to add scale and professional bench strength to our trust operations in Switzerland, Guernsey and Cayman,” said Michael Collins, Butterfield’s chairman and chief executive.
“It also provides us with a physical presence in Asia, which we view as a growth market for Butterfield.
“We look forward to welcoming GTS clients and staff to Butterfield and to the development of new business from an ongoing partnership with Deutsche Bank’s Wealth Management team.”
Simplification
Fabrizio Campelli, Deutsche Bank’s global head of wealth management, said: “Butterfield is a well-known leader in the trust industry and we look forward to working with them to provide our clients with a broader product offering.
“The divestiture represents an important step in our strategy of simplifying our business and positioning wealth management for growth in our core markets.”
Based in the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Switzerland, Butterfield provides estate and succession planning services, efficient coordination of family affairs, and administration of complex holding structures for a wide variety of financial and non-financial assets.
As of 30 September 2017, Butterfield Trust had assets under administration of approximately $95.2bn (£71.7bn €80.7bn).
Terms of the agreement, which is subject to regulatory approvals, were not disclosed.
