The bid declared on September 15, 2005, with the purpose of attraction of depository (custody) services has ended, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan Republic (SOFAR) said. The tender has been carried out according to the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic “About the state purchases”, and the winner of the tender was announced the Bank of New York, USA.

Thus, the Bank of New York has been appointed by the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAR) to provide custody services.

According to State Oil Fund, the decision to seek improvement of the conditions of the custody services was taken due to the two factors. Growth of the assets under management is creating an opportunity to attempt reducing custody fees and increased complexity of the operations of the Fund requiring value added services to be provided by a custodian at some later stages, which had not been included into the current custodial arrangements.

In addition to public tender announcements, invitations were sent to 16 financial institutions providing global custodial services and possessing a credit rating of AA- or higher. 11 institutions expressed interest and 8 submitted tender proposals. The latter were: BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Transaction Services, HSBC Bank Plc, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Royal Bank of Canada Global Services, Societe Generаle Global Securities Services, State Street Bank GmbH, The Bank of New York.

The Bank of New York is one of the largest global financial institutions with over $10 trillion of assets rendering depository services.