EUROPE - British Airways has reappointed State Street to provide custody services, JP Morgan has won three new custody contracts in the UK and Netherlands, and Lancashire County Council is seeking a new custody provider for its local government pension scheme (LGPS).

Trustees of the £14bn (€15.36bn) British Airways Pension Scheme have retained State Street Corporation as the pension fund's custody provider.

State Street has provided the BA scheme with a range of investment services since 1997, and under the new contract it will be responsible for the scheme's custody, accounting, performance measurement, securities lending, trade matching and cash management.

JP Morgan's Worldwide Securities Services has also been appointed to provide custody and related services to the €600m pension fund of Netherlands-based Vopak, the world's largest storage provider for liquids.

This latest signing by Vopak's pension fund follows the recent appointment of BlackRock as its fiduciary manager.

The £700m First UK Bus pension scheme and the £640m Home Retail group pension scheme have also awarded JP Morgan Worldwide Securities Services mandates for custody and related services.

JP Morgan will provide both pension schemes with custody, accounting, foreign exchange and cash management services. It will also be responsible for a passive currency overlay service on behalf of the Home Retail Group pension fund.

Elsewhere, Lancashire County Council is seeking a global custodian for its £3.5bn local government pension fund.

The successful candidate will be expected to provide a range of custody services including proxy voting, cash management, investment accounting, risk analysis and performance measurement.

The contract is for an initial period of four years, with eth option of a further three-year extension, beginning in June 2010. The closing date for submissions is 15 April 2010, and further information can be obtained from the Thomas Murray website.

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