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Could you provide us with some background on yourself and how you got started in the securities services industry ? My entire career – which now spans 34 years – has been in securities services , mainly in client development , sales , relationship management and client service . I started my career at a Spanish bank called Banco Urquijo that was very much focused on private banking and on supporting the industrialisation of Spain during the 50s and 60s . I then moved to BNP Paribas Securities Services in 1997 , first as head of sales in Spain , and then as location manager for Greece . I have very nice memories from that period , from a business and from a personal point of view . I came back to Spain in 2003 to run our local office and then added Portugal to my remit . This remains a highlight of my career , a time during which we turned the business into a true market leader in Spain and one of the top depositary banks and fund administrators in the country . Another highlight from that time was the launch of our business in Latin America . It was an amazing experience . We started the business from scratch , building our presence in Brazil , Mexico , Chile , Colombia and Peru from the ground up . In 2016 , I moved from a pure regional role to a global one and took responsibility for client development , sales and relationship management , as well as client service later on . I ’ ve also been part of the Financial Institutions Coverage executive board since 2017 . FIC drives the bank ’ s global strategy and relationship management for select financial institution clients . It looks at our financial institutions clients ’ needs holistically so we can provide them with a comprehensive range of solutions – including securities services – to grow their business and adapt to changes in the global financial markets .
It ’ s a very illustrious career . What would you say are the most significant changes you ’ ve seen over that period ? When I began on the operations side , coupons were still physical , vaults were full of physical shares , and there were other things that if you told people that were joining the business now , they would not believe . In terms of
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ALVARO CAMUÑAS
Global Custodian sits down with securities services expert Alvaro Camuñas to discuss some of his career highlights , market trends and the current direction of travel for BNP Paribas
infrastructure , there ’ s been an amazing change in the way that we work . From a business and custody point of view , custodians used to be regarded as pure service providers – we were there to service assets and nothing else . But this has changed a lot . Custodians have become true partners to our clients , working hand in hand with them to identify their needs , define ambitious target operating models , and devise and source solutions to our clients ’ challenges . The market environment has changed a lot , making it increasingly complex for financial institutions to operate . This has led to a huge increase in financial institutions looking to outsource their non-core operations , and work with custodians that can help them grow without having to develop tools in-house .
What projects are you currently working on ? BNP Paribas has a clear strategy to drive us forward . We call it GTS , which stands for growth , technology and sustainability .
As part of our growth objective , our securities services business , which currently operates within its own legal entity , will be integrated with BNP Paribas SA on 1 October . This will reinforce our integrated banking model , enabling us to offer end to end offering from brokerage to securities services . This means that , when clients are contracted with us , it is not just securities services that are available to them , it ’ s the whole bank . This integrated approach has huge advantages , and we have already seen significant results . The second area of focus is technology . This includes developing and offering services with new data aggregation capabilities , enhanced reporting and analytics services as well as connections to third-party data platforms . And , last , sustainability . Our objective as a bank is to continue to build an industry-leading ESG offering to help our clients ‘ shift the trillions ’ to a low carbon economy . This offering will build on our CIB ’ s leadership in sustainability , the strength of our integrated bank model
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