The addition of Greece and Poland to Citi’s lending network will open both countries up to new sources of liquidity and support the development of their local capital markets.
As part of the due diligence, Citi worked closely with Greek and Polish legal and tax specialists as it was imperative to create efficient and easy access to these two new markets for foreign borrowers and lenders.
Citi will now be providing securities lending for Greek equities and Polish bonds and equities taking Citi’s securities finance network to 38 lending markets across the globe.
Tim Douglas, global head of securities finance at Citi, said: “Our continued expansion of our securities lending offering underscores our leadership and ability to leverage our global presence and local market expertise in order to benefit our clients around the world.”
Securities lending, which is the temporary transfer of securities on a collateralized basis, allows portfolio managers that lend securities to earn a fee while allowing the borrower to execute their trading strategies.
Global transaction services, a division of Citi’s institutional clients group, offers integrated cash management, trade, and securities and fund services to multinational corporations, financial institutions and public sector organizations around the world.
With a network that spans more than 100 countries, it supports over 65,000 clients. As of the fourth quarter of 2009, it held on average $335bn in liability balances and $12.1 trillion in assets under custody.
