[ U P D A T E ]

New BNY Mellon chief won ’ t be prioritising ‘ large and transformational ’ acquisitions

Incoming chief to focus on organic growth and driving the operating effectiveness of the bank .

BNY Mellon ’ s president and CEO-elect , Robin Vince , has said the bank in not currently in the market for significant acquisitions , with other priorities afoot . In the custodian ’ s Q2 earnings call , Vince replied to a question on future M & A activity by stating : “ As you can imagine , a large and transformational sort of transaction is not very high on my list of priorities right now .” Instead , Vince said the bank will be focused on achieving organic growth , taking advantage of the opportunities that already exist within the franchise , and “ driving the operating effectiveness of the company ”. Difficult market conditions and macroeconomic factors will play a role in the custodian ’ s growth plans , while the complications State Street has encountered with its proposed takeover of Brown Brothers Harriman Investor Services will also serve as a reminder of how difficult it can be to complete a transaction of significant scale . Moreover , significant M & A activity hasn ’ t been part of the BNY ’ s playbook since the merger with Mellon Financial Corporation in 2007 . The organisation has instead opted more for a strategy of partnerships and collaborations , with no less than 37 FinTech partnerships signed at year-end 2021 . The incoming chief did point to the pair of smaller acquisitions made last year in the shape of Optimal Asset Management and Milestone Group , supporting the growth of Pershing X and the bank ’ s asset servicing arm , respectively . “ We ’ re going to continue to be on the lookout for those types of things ,” he said . “ But with anything in the M & A space , there ’ s a high bar .”

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