BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNP PSS) has appointed the former Westpac custody head to oversee its relationship with AMP.

Barry Dench, previously the head of Westpac Custodian Nominees, which was sold to HSBC in 2006, began his tenure at BNP PSS on May 21 and is responsible for the management of the bank’s custody business with the entire AMP group. He will lead a team of four relationship managers. BNP PSS renewed its contract with AMP, its largest client, in September 2006. Jo Mairorana, who has now taken a senior position within the BNP PSS product development team, temporarily managed the AMP contract, taking over from Stephanie Lanigan. “As soon as we signed our contract extension with AMP, we started looking for someone…We waited for the right candidate,” Chris Briant, BNP PSS head of sales and relationship management, said. BNP PSS bought the funds administration component of AMP in late 2002, which then comprised 85 per cent of its business. While this percentage has decreased, AMP remains the custodian’s largest client in the region. Dench, an executive member of the Australian Custodial Services Association, has 20 years of experience in financial services, in which he has held business strategy, investment management and operations management roles. Briant said Mairorana’s transition to the product team was pivotal, given that the custodian was placing greater emphasis on product development.