Founded in Switzerland in 1962, ABS offers private banking services for high-net-worth individuals and entrepreneurs. EDB has been selected to provide depositary services for 32 bank accounts for 14 special purpose vehicles (“SPVs”) belonging to AB Alternative Fund SICAV-SIF, which is a €300m pan-European commercial real estate investment fund managed by ABS.

As part of Apex Group, EDB is one of the largest providers of depositary services in Europe for regulated UCITS and alternative funds, with over €177bn Assets under Depositary and €26bn Assets under Custody (as of July 31, 2023). This latest news follows the appointment earlier this year of Executive Management Board Member, Holger Barth as Global Head of Banking Depositary.

EDB’s experienced teams deliver a comprehensive suite of full depositary and depo-lite services to run seamlessly alongside fund administration requirements with solutions structured to adapt and scale in-line with the complexity of the fund(s) and their regulatory requirements.

As an independent depositary bank, EDB provides effective and robust depositary services for fund assets and related activities as required throughout a fund’s entire lifecycle, and delivered across jurisdictional services in regulated jurisdictions with headquarters in Luxembourg and branches in Ireland, UK, Cayman Islands and Malta.

Jean-Daniel Zandona, Regional Head of Business Development at Apex Group commented: “We are pleased to build on our strong relationship with Arab Bank to provide depositary solutions in addition to existing digital banking services. EDB delivers full depositary and depo-lite services under the UCITS and AIFM directives, acting as an expert support function providing robust solutions alongside other banking requirements. This is testament to the benefits of Apex Group’s single-source model which removes the necessity for multiple providers.”

Daniel Delechat, Head of Asset Management at ABS further comments: “We have been impressed by the quality of both Apex Group and EDB’s service delivery and the specialist knowledge of the team, and are delighted to further expand our relationship to encompass depositary services. Their single-source model enables us to access all the services we require through one convenient point of contact, delivering significant time and operational efficiencies for our business.”