1. Advancing ACSDA Markets, Regionally and Globally: A Dialogue with Industry Colleagues Association of Global Custodians Perspective ACSDA 10th General Assembly Panama City, Panamá February 21,

2. The Association of Global Custodians is an informal non-profit group of eight global custodian banks that are major providers of securities custody and trade settlement services to institutional investors worldwide. Established in 1997, the AGC primarily seeks to address regulatory issues that are of common interest to global custody banks. The member banks are competitors, and the AGC does not involve itself in member commercial activities or take positions on how members should conduct their custody businesses.
                       
   
AGC members:
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
Citibank, N.A.
HSBC Securities Services
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
The Northern Trust Company
RBC Dexia Investor Services
State Street Bank and Trust Company
Active AGC Committees
Depository Information Gathering Project (“DIGP”)
Tax Committee
Corporate Actions Risk Task Force:
European Issues Committee
Offshore Fund Processing Committee
International Securities Market Advisory Group
Consultations in specific markets, e.g., Russia, Thailand
AGC members serviced over $55 trillion in assets under custody globally*
* Source: The 2006 Global Custody Yearbook, Buttonwood International

3. AGC members prepare independent 17f-7 CSD assessments for clients
Advancing the partnership between the AGC and ACSDA to improve operational efficiency in meeting U.S. Rule 17f-7 requirements
AGC’s Depository Information Gathering Project (DIGP):
Regulatory compliance requirement: Global custodian banks are required to provide annual independent assessments of CSDs and ICSDs to clients governed by Rule 17f-7 of the U.S. S.E.C. 1940’s Act
Data gathering process: Over 120 depositories have completed the AGC’s DIGP questionnaire. The AGC works closely with depository groups to determine the most efficient way of providing the necessary data. Yearly updates typically require minimal changes
Access: The AGC provides the responses to its members and encourages the depositories to post their completed AGC questionnaire on their own websites
Improve the operational efficiency of the yearly assessment process in strong partnership of AGC and ACSDA
Benefit of responding to AGC questionnaire is a centralized data gathering for eight global custodians, reducing multiple requests to ACSDA
AGC members review the questionnaire with ACSDA members to ensure all information needed under Rule 17f-7 is included
Work with ACSDA to determine most efficient process of gathering the information from each member
Once initial questionnaire is answered, annual updates are straight forward and not time consuming
AGC members are encouraged to share the risk assessment of a CSD with that institution
Assessments provided to AGC members’ clients governed by SEC 1940’s Act
AGC 17f-7 Data Repository
CSDs & ICSDs complete AGC questionnaire
AGC members prepare independent 17f-7 CSD assessments for clients

4. Current Active AGC Efforts
Tax Committee: Enhance tax reclaims processing globally
OECD Collective Investment Vehicle project
Russian withholding taxes affecting dividend income
Corporate Actions Risk Task Force: Improve corporate actions processing
AGC Corporate Actions Whitepaper covering ISO standards for end-to-end processing of initial company announcements
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations processing in the U.S.
SEC relief for processing non-U.S. corporate actions and rights offerings
Partial calls processing and late notifications in the U.S.
European Issues Committee: Monitor and comment on regulatory changes impacting global custody
Code of Conduct Working Group
Target 2 Securities
Euroclear Single Platform Advisory Group
Proposed ESCB-CESR Standards
Possible clearing and settlement directives
Offshore Fund Processing: Identified concerns in offshore fund processing and possible solutions
Submitted four papers/letters in last 18 months covering Germany, Luxembourg and Ireland