UniCredit brings security custody services in-house, with focus on Germany

MILAN (Reuters) -UniCredit said on Friday it would bring in-house back-office activities for securities custody services, with an initial focus on Germany, where the move will create 140 new jobs.

The jobs will be filled partly by existing personnel, thanks to reskilling programmes agreed with unions, and partly through hiring, it added.

The Italian bank is present in Germany through Munich-based HVB. Attempts to expand further by building a stake in Commerzbank and calling for a full merger have met with strong resistance from the German government.

It last increased its Commerzbank stake in December to 28%, conditional on supervisory approval.

UniCredit will now devote staff to back-office activities that were previously outsourced. The move will also add 60 roles in Italy.

The lender will run back-office operations linked to securities, but it will still rely on custody services provided by its partners Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) in Italy and Crédit Agricole's CACEIS in Germany.

Last renewed in 2006, the accord with SGSS runs until 2026. CACEIS bought HVB's securities and custodial services in 2007 and set up a German custody business in Munich.

UniCredit said it would reduce costs by creating a single system to handle securities services both in Germany and Italy, its two main markets.

Simplifying and standardising banking services makes the digital transition and the adoption of cloud-based infrastructure easier.

Artificial intelligence is expected to sharply reduce the costs of back-office services in years to come.

(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Giulia Segreti, Kirsten Donovan)