Global Finance honors the front-line providers of specialized services that make cross-border investing possible. As investors around the world continue to rush into fast-growing foreign markets to achieve diversified portfolios with the opportunity for higher returns, sub-custodians are being called upon to handle sharply rising volumes of transactions. Markets in Asia, the Middle I East and Latin America are all witnessing big increases in foreign inflows.

Citi's securities business revenue from Latin America rose 62% in 2007. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China saw its custody income increase by 203% last year. HSBC's assets under custody in Hong Kong jumped 85% in 2007.

Some of the biggest increases in custody holdings are occurring in the oil-rich Middle East. The custody assets of HSBC rose by 325% in Jordan last year and by 1,000% in Qatar, the fastest-growing country in the region.

In our sixth annual survey of the Best Sub-Custodians, Global Finance selected the institutions in nine regions and 53 countries that reliably provide the best custody services. Our editors and reporters, with input from expert sources, selected the winners based on a series of objective and subjective criteria that included customer relations, quality of service, competitive pricing, smooth handling of exception items, technology platforms, post-settlement operations, backup systems and knowledge of local regulations and practices.

In selecting the winners, we also considered market share, commitment to the business, experience and number of staff, innovation, direct links to depositories, financial soundness and safety, and range of assets serviced.

REGIONAL WINNERS

NORTH AMERICA

The Bank of New York Mellon

The Bank of New York Mellon is the largest custodian in the world, with more than $23 trillion of assets under custody or administration and $1.1 trillion under management. It also services $12 trillion in outstanding debt. In July 2007 The Bank of New York merged with Mellon Financial, a leading asset management firm. The bank's core custody platform combines a wide range of asset management and securities services. It offers access to securities lending, performance measurement, compliance monitoring, cash management and foreign exchange services. The bank helps institutions and corporations manage their financial assets efficiently and gain maximum returns while reducing risk. The bank's asset-servicing fees totaled $897 million in the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 40% from the same period a year earlier. The Bank of New York subsidiary is the depository for more than 1,300 American and global depositary receipt programs for compati nies based in 63 countries.

www.bnymellon.com

WESTERN EUROPE

BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas is the leading provider of clearing and custody services on a pan-European basis. It is also a major global custodian, with $5.6 trillion in assets under custody at the end of 2007. It offers global liquidity services including securities lending and borrowing, cash management, financing, treasury and foreign exchange. Last year BNP Paribas acquired Exelbank, a subsidiary of Banco Sabadell specializing in custody services in Spain. One of the largest banks in France, BNP Paribas also bought Banca Nazionale del Lavoro in Italy last year. In April of this year BNP Paribas Investment Partners acquired IMS, a London-based multi- manager investment specialist with approximately $10 billion of assets under management and advice. It also recently launched a new asset management company in Saudi Arabia with the Saudi Investment Bank and received a license to establish a fund management firm in Bahrain.

www.bnpparibas.cotn

ASIA ms

Standard Chartered has made a significant investment in its sub- custody and clearing business in the past year and has lured a number of senior managers away from its competitors. In Asia the UK- based bank became the first to offer derivatives clearing in India, the first to provide third-party custody in the Philippines for government securities and the first bank in Asia to pilot the Swift proxy-voting initiative. It also introduced the first web-browser channel for securities services to provide intra-day reporting and corporate action capabilities. Standard Chartered won many new mandates for securities services in Vietnam in the past eight months. The bank now provides funds services across 10 markets in Asia.

www.standardchartered.cotn

AFRICA

Nedbank

Nedbank is a major participant in the South African securities markets, where it provides custodial and settlement services to institutional investors. Nedbank offers corporateevent management and proxy-voting services as well as fund accounting and administration.The bank also offers outsourcing services to manage back-office operations for various participants in the securities industry. Nedbank, part of the Old Mutual Group, has had a branch in London for more than 100 years. It also has branches in Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

www.nedbank.co.za

CARIBBEAN

HSBC

HSBC acquired the Bank of Bermuda in 2004, strengthening its significant presence in the Caribbean. UK-based HSBC recently entered retail banking in the Cayman Islands, where it has operated trust and insurance businesses for more than 20 years. In Bermuda HSBC is one of the leading providers of sub-custody services to foreign investors. HSBC securities Services' customers include about 90% of all the global custodians who are active in the Bermuda market. HSBC also has offices in the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands.

www.hsbc. com

CENTRAL/EASTERN EUROPE

UniCredit

UniCredit is the leading regional custodian in Central and Eastern Europe, where it offers securities services in 17 countries. UniCredit Markets & Investment Banking, the bank's custody brand in the CEE, uses a single, region-wide technology platform with high- capacity transaction-processing capabilities and reporting and disclosure features. Custody is a core offering of the investment bank, which also offers foreign exchange and cash management services. UniCredit is also the leading regional provider of fund services and global custody for local clients.

www.unicreditgroup.eu

LATIN AMERICA

Citi

Citi is a leading custodian of crossborder assets worldwide. As of December 31,2007, it had $13.1 trillion in assets under custody. Citi is the largest custodian in Latin America, where it covers the eight biggest mari kets in the region. The bank's Latin American securities business revenues I grew 62% in 2007. Citi offers the broadest capabilities and the most extensive proprietary network in the region. It implemented an interactive corporate action notice board in 2007, as well as a new web channel for securities market information.

www.citigroup.com

MIDDLE EAST

Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered recently opened its new trading floor at the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC). UK-based Standard Chartered is the first bank at the DIFC to purchase its own premises. It was also the first bank to provide sub-custody services at the DIFC. In addition to holding securities on behalf of institutional investors, it also provides settlement, corporate actions and market information services to customers who trade on the exchange. Standard Chartered was appointed the DIFC's exclusive clearing bank in July 2005. The bank is active throughout the region from offices in Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

www.standardchartered.com

NORDIC COUNTRIES

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) is the leading sub-custodian in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The Stockholm-based bank is also active in the Baltic countries, as well as in Germany, Poland, Ukraine and Russia. Custody Services is a business unit within SEB Merchant Banking. SEB's systems provide fast access to an overview of the client's holdings and speed up the clearing and settlement processes. The bank also keeps its customers updated on any changes or events that could affect the markets in which they invest. SEB is also expanding its asset management sales force in Europe.

www.sebgroup.com

COUNTRY WINNERS

ARGENTINA

Citi

Citi opened its securities services unit in Argentina 20 years ago to serve local and international investors. It is the leading provider of securities services to foreign investors in the country, with a 95% market share. Citi also holds a 65% share of the local custody market. It provides a full range of securities services for both equity and fixed-income markets and assists clients with daily reporting requirements to local authorities and regulatory bodies.

www.citigroup.com/argentina

AUSTRALIA

ANZ

ANZ Custodian Services provides domestic and master custody services for Australian and New Zealand listed securities from its offices in Melbourne and Wellington. Its core custody services cover all asset classes in both countries for domestic and international investors. The bank offers a full range of fund services, as well as settlement and clearing services, securities lending and corporate actions services.

www.anz.com

AUSTRIA

UniCredit

UniCredit is the volume leader in Austrian clearing services, with a market share of more than 30% for remote members of the Vienna Stock Exchange. The exchange has worked hard in recent years to attract foreign trading members. It now has more foreign trading members than domestic ones. UniCredit has a centralized management team based in Vienna that is responsible for its securities services throughout Central and Eastern Europe. www.unicreditgroup.eu

BAHRAIN

Gulf Custody

Gulf Custody was founded in Kuwait in 2001 and entered the Bahrain market two years later as part of its strategy to become a leading provider of fund administration, custodian and settlement services in the Gulf for conventional and Islamic funds. The firm's total assets under custody now total about $8 billion. Gulf Custody provides zakat calculations for tithing and dividend cleansing of tainted income for Islamic funds.

www.gulfcustody.com

BERMUDA

Bank of Bermuda

Bank of Bermuda has been a participant in the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) since the market was established in 1971. The BSX is one of the world's largest offshore electronic securities markets. It lists international and domestic issuers of equity, debt, depositary receipts and derivatives.