UniCredit has formed a custody services partnership with BNP Paribas Securities Services and is collaborating with UK-based wealthtech FNZ to develop a new cloud-based post-trade securities platform, as the Italian banking group continues to internalise its securities services operations.

Under the new agreement, BNP Paribas Securities Services will serve as UniCredit’s custody services partner in Italy, Germany, and Luxembourg. This partnership follows UniCredit’s strategic review of its outsourcing contracts and supersedes previous agreements, including a long-standing contract with Société Générale Securities Services, which had provided custody, settlement, and market data management services for UniCredit’s Italian operations since September 2006. Additionally, Caceis, a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole, had supported UniCredit’s HypoVereinsbank unit in Germany with securities processing and custodial services since 2007.

UniCredit announced in January its intention to bring back-office activities for securities services in-house, a move aimed at standardising operations and suppliers across countries. This internalisation strategy is expected to create over 200 new jobs.

To facilitate this internalisation, UniCredit has enlisted Motive Partners-backed FNZ to deliver a post-trade securities platform for its custody services business. The initial phase of job creation for this offering includes 140 roles in Germany. A further 60 roles will be created in Italy, with an additional 25 positions becoming available within the bank’s digital team across Italy, Germany, and Poland. UniCredit reports that a cross-functional project team is actively working on the transition to the new FNZ platform.

Gianfranco Bisagni, group COO at UniCredit, stated, “We are fully committed to harmonising and simplifying our set-up across UniCredit to provide a more secure, flexible and cost-efficient foundation for the delivery of custody services, enabling our clients to be more agile and impactful in their execution.”