BNY Mellon signs trade processing partnership with Helaba (Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen) & the G25 German Sparkassen

LONDON, Aug. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- BNY Mellon, a global leader in investment management and investment services, has signed a trade processing partnership with Helaba (Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen) and the G25, a group which represents the 25 largest Sparkassen in Germany.

Helping Helaba and the Sparkassen attract new trade flows to Germany, BNY Mellon will act as a business entry point for small and medium sized German enterprises seeking to trade with the Asia-Pacific region (APAC). BNY Mellon will promote the partners' brands in APAC via BNY Mellon's correspondent banking network, and in return, Helaba and the Sparkassen will route letters of credit from German importers via BNY Mellon's branch network.

"This agreement strengthens Helaba's position as a trade finance partner," said Klaus-Jorg Mulfinger, designated management board member of Helaba who is also responsible for business conducted with the Sparkassen. "With export flows on the rise, the Sparkassen need to provide adequate trade finance support to their corporate clients. Helaba is committed to helping the Sparkassen meet these client needs by providing an extensive array of trade finance products, buyer credit and forfaiting, and the assumption of bank and country risk."

"The G25 Sparkassen and Helaba are proud of this strong partnership regarding the important trade finance and letter of credit business," said Josef Hastrich, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Kreissparkasse Koln. "This agreement will offer new opportunities for the German Sparkassen Finanzgruppe to expand globally and will significantly complement the global performance of the Landesbanken. We'd also welcome other Sparkassen who would like to participate in the partnership. The German Sparkassen are the most important partners for the Mittelstand in Germany and we are looking forward to extending this partnership to the international trade finance business."

"This deal helps connect the famed Mittelstand with the fastest growing region in the world," said Ian Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Treasury Services at BNY Mellon. "We will provide a common solution for Helaba and Germany's Sparkassen which will give them access to our network of correspondent banks in APAC. Helaba and the Sparkassen will be able to leverage our strong brand presence in Asia where we have been based for over half a century. This, in turn, will help German companies drive export growth into new and exciting markets."

The German Sparkassen and Landesbanken are one of the largest banking groups in the world and have over 15,000 branch offices throughout Germany. BNY Mellon already delivers a range of solutions to Germany's Sparkassen and has acted as one of their partner banks since almost 50 years.

Notes to editors:

G25 German Sparkassen 

With an aggregated balance sheet total of about €330 billion and a total volume in the corporate business lending of about €110 billion the G25, a group which represents the 25 largest Sparkassen in Germany (excluding Berliner Sparkasse), enjoys a leading position among the banks in the Federal Republic of Germany. The G25 Sparkassen have about one third of the market share of all German Sparkassen and are particularly strong in the provision of finance for small and medium-sized enterprises. The G25 assist in the international business projects of their corporate clients by providing extensive support in areas such as export and import finance, interest-rate and currency management, investment finance and documentary business. The Sparkassen Finanzgruppe has the third-largest volume of SWIFT transactions in Germany and is one of the largest users of the European EBA clearing platform. For more information, see: www.dsgv.de

Helaba

With business volume of approximately EUR 200 billion and 6,500 employees, Helaba ranks among Germany's leading banks.  Headquartered in Frankfurt and Erfurt, the bank has a major presence in global economic centres, with branches in Paris, London and New York and representative offices in Madrid, Moscow and Shanghai.  A global bank with a strong regional focus, Helaba is closely integrated in Germany's savings banks organization. The bank's strategic business model focuses on three corporate sectors: large corporate customers and the S-Group; private customers and smaller and medium-sized enterprises ("SMEs"); and public development and infrastructure business.

BNY Mellon

BNY Mellon has been serving clients in Germany since 1931. The company opened its first office in Frankfurt in 1972. Following its acquisitions of BHF Asset Servicing and Frankfurter Service KAG in 2010 and Meriten Investment Management in 2012, the company now has more than 650 employees in Germany. In addition to asset servicing, depotbanking, fund administration and asset management, BNY Mellon is active in Germany in the areas of corporate trust, treasury services, collateral management, depository receipts and client management.  It has over 200 institutional relationships in Germany, including more than 20 DAX-listed corporations, and offers regional coverage for 14 countries in the German speaking and Central Eastern and South Eastern European region. For more information, see www.bnymellon.de.

BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries and more than 100 markets. As of June 30, 2014, BNY Mellon had $28.5 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.6 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com, or follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon.

SOURCE BNY Mellon