New Zealand’s second-largest community trust, the $500 million Canterbury Community Trust, has appointed its first ever master custodian.

BNP Paribas Securities Services has won the contract to executes transactions and reports and safekeep the assets of the Trust,  which exists for the benefit of the Canterbury, Nelson, Marlborough and Chatham Island communities.

Trust chairperson Barry Dent said that after significant due diligence on multiple parties, BNP Paribas Securities Services’ offering was superior to other products available, pointing in particular to its reporting systems

The BNP Paribas New Zealand branch claimed to have grown its custody client base by 25 percent in 2008.