EUROPE – The Bank of New York says it is undergoing a branding exercise to raise its profile.

“We are undergoing a branding exercise,” said Ivan Royle, BoNY’s director of European communications. “It’s clear that there is a recognition in Europe and other areas that we’re not as well known as we could be.”

He said the fruits of the exercise could be seen from the middle of next year. He couldn’t put a figure on the cost.

The bank, best known for its custody activities, admits that it is perceived to some extent as “the plumbing” in the industry and is seeking to rectify that.

Last month the securities servicing bank said Timothy Keaney would to take over from Jeffrey Tessler as head of Europe. And in October the bank posted a 37% rise in securities services fees and said it was seeing “strong new business momentum” in global custody. BoNY has 7.9 trillion dollars in assets under custody.

BoNY’s BNY Securities arm recently said it would offer global transition management, commission recapture, independent equity research and commission management services to the European institutional investment community.