UniCredit has recently announced plans to bring its back-office activities for securities services across Italy and Germany in house, standardizing its set-up and suppliers in a move that is expected to create more than 200 new professional roles.
As explained in the update, the internalization will involve building out a back-office platform for the bank’s custody services business, initially focused on Germany, while staffing teams to “manage these operations in house – creating more than 140 new jobs in Germany, where the service was previously mostly outsourced.”
There will also be a further 60 roles created in Italy, drawing on both the market and the bank’s “reskilling program agreed with the trade unions.”
The move comes as part of a Group-wide optimization of the banking platform’s securities set-up, aiming to create a more standardized approach across Italy and Germany, “underpinned by common partners and a modern platform.”
This will, in turn, aim to provide a more secure, flexible as well as cost-efficient foundation for the delivery of the banking service provider’s custody services, “bringing the teams closer to their clients and enabling them to be more agile and impactful in their execution.”
The bank is in close contact with the “relevant Works Councils to define the necessary next steps together.”
Richard Burton, UniCredit’s Head of Client Solutions, said:
“We continue to focus on the simplification of our business – internalising value chains and leveraging our scale so we can become more impactful on behalf of our clients. This latest move in custody services is a step in the same direction – giving us a stronger, more flexible foundation to meet our clients’ changing needs.”
Marion Höllinger, CEO, HypoVereinsbank Germany said:
“We are constantly developing our processes and checking whether it makes sense to build up external expertise internally. We see great potential in our in-house custody services to strengthen our German business and at the same time maximise synergies throughout the Group.”
