The Butterfield Group, Guernsey

iMeta system adds value for Butterfield’s custodial clients

The Butterfield Group had a requirement for a value added online enquiry system for its custody clients. With the increase of online banking systems, many clients were looking for a comparable custodial facility. Following recommendation, the group approached iMeta; a proven track record enabled it to develop an effective system that provided all of the functionalities required, delivered within deadline and budget.

Client background

Butterfield Bank (Guernsey) Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited, which is regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. The parent bank was established in Bermuda in 1858. In addition to Bermuda and Guernsey, the Group has offices in The Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Cayman, Hong Kong,Malta, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Total Group assets incorporating all of the Bank’s locations, as at 31 December 2007, were US$11.9 billion.

The Butterfield Group in Guernsey has been providing services to individual and institutional clients for over thirty years and offers a comprehensive range of services, including third party fund administration, custody, investment management, fiduciary, private banking, lending, treasury, services to family offices and administered banking.

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Working through a matrix of global service providers, brokers and international clearing houses, the Custody Services team provides dealing and settlement, corporate action and dividend services. It has in excess of USD 13.6 billion of assets under custody. Clients include high net worth individuals, charitable foundations, fund managers, trust companies, investment managers and family offices.

“Our dedicated team provides a tailored quality service to our clients, including access to technical specialists, flexibility of reporting and close communication. We considered the addition of an online enquiry system to be a value added service, whilst not being a replacement for the high degree of personal interaction we maintain with our clients.

We elected to use iMeta as our partner following recommendation from two local businesses with which Butterfield works closely,” commented Sadie Podmore, Head of Custody Services.

Development and Implementation

During development and testing, the two parties worked closely together, often on a one-to-one basis and the system was piloted with a dozen clients of varying types.

“On a practical level, we found iMeta to be very effective and flexible throughout the entire process. Even at very short notice, it made resource available to us on-site. There was a strong teamwork ethic; the log was managed effectively and issues systematically overcome; release notes were well written, efficient and easy to use, with good load to live instructions,” commented Nick Ferbrache, Head of Project Management & Business Applications.

System Delivery and Roll Out

The delivered system offers clients an enquiry facility, per portfolio that they choose to have enabled. Within each, they can access: Client name, number and portfolio number/description; indicative portfolio value as total in base currency; nominal; pending nominal; stock name and description; sedol; stock currency; market price; price date; book value; accrued interest; market value and market value base currency.

Clients also have the ability to export data, to reflect nil holdings and to drill down into each line of stock to review transactional history.