Denmark's second largest bank - Unibank - has appointed Lloyds Bank Securities Services (LBSS) in the UK to manage a £400m ($630m) portfolio for UK equities and gilts.

Unibank shortlisted Morgan Stanley, Midland Securities Services, Royal Bank of Scotland and LBSS, the latter pipping the others at the post because, according to Peter Revsbech, assistant vice president at Unibank in Denmark: Lloyds were the cheapest provider, with a credit rating that exceeded our requirements,and a level of service that was comparable to the other bidders."

Unibank did not useany outside consultant in the search for a provider in the UK where its custody has been handled by Hambros for the past 10 years. But, under new requirements introduced by Unibank this year, Hambros lost out. Revsbech says: "Hambros did not fulfil the new requirements so we had to get out and find another custodian."

Unibank's global custodian is Citibank and it deploys different custodians in different European markets. In its two largest continental markets, it uses Dresdner in Germany and Credit Agricole-IndoSuez in France.

In the US Unibank uses Bankers Trust.

Bob Crew"

Topics