BT Raids Citicorp Again, Signing Up Head of Global Securities Services

Bankers Trust Corp. has hired a third Citicorp veteran in its Global Institutional Services group.

Roberta J. Sonenfeld will join Bankers Trust in October as managing director for global securities services. The 12-year Citi veteran will oversee operations supporting 4,500 worldwide clients of Bankers Trust's investment management, custody, administration, corporate trust, and agency businesses.

Ms. Sonenfeld will report to Mary Cirillo, a managing director of Global Institutional Services who joined Bankers Trust last summer after spending 20 years at Citicorp in various technology and operations roles.

"This rounds out our senior management team," Ms. Cirillo said. Ms. Sonenfeld will "tie all of the service and delivery components together."

In January, Ms. Cirillo hired M. Stephen Soltis from J.P. Morgan & Co. to help meld Bankers Trust's asset management services. One month later she hired Carol Coye Benson from Visa International to establish Bankers Trust's Internet-based capabilities. Ms. Benson is also a 16-year veteran of Citi.

New York-based Bankers Trust created the institutional services unit last year and has been working to build its capabilities, particularly abroad.

The unit has 4,500 employees in 30 countries, including 1,350 overseas.

Bankers Trust, the seventh-largest U.S. banking company, with $172 billion of assets, ranks as the fourth-largest custodian, with $2.3 trillion, including $422 billion in non-U.S. assets, under custody.

Ms. Cirillo said Ms. Sonenfeld's experience with Citicorp's global operations platform would translate well to Bankers Trust. Ms. Sonenfeld, who was not available for comment, has been Citi's division executive and senior operations and technology officer for worldwide securities activities.

A successor has not been named, a Citicorp spokeswoman said.

Securities processing as a business has consolidated rapidly in recent years as banks with smaller units sold them off because they lacked the volume to remain profitable, consultants said.

Global custody-custody for non-U.S. assets-has emerged as the latest area of consolidation, with the biggest custody providers going after portfolio acquisitions. Chase Manhattan Corp., the largest in custody, with $4.8 trillion under administration, recently agreed to buy Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.'s global custody portfolio.

"Domestic custody is by and large a commodity business," said Octavio Marenzi, a consultant at Meridien Research in Boston. "In global custody it's much easier to differentiate yourself; a local presence is seen as very important."

Bankers Trust will continue to build, Ms. Cirillo said. "These businesses are a great stream of earnings," she said. "And they are a little more stable and predictable than trading or investment banking."

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