Commerzbank is looking to make savings by transferring its securities settlement operations to a new joint venture with HSBC Transactions Services.
The German lender will have a 20% minority stake in the new venture, which is set to go live in early 2020 following intensive testing next year, and run for an initial period of 10 years.
Financial details of the agreement have not been revealed, although Commerzbank says that its investment and expected medium-term savings have been pencilled in to its recently announced '4.0' digitisation plan.
Frank Annuscheit, COO, Commerzbank, says: "Our ‘Commerzbank 4.0’ strategy is aimed at digitalising the bank, while also simplifying processes and cutting costs.
"The strategic partnership with HSBC for securities settlement ties in with both these aims: in the future, we will be using HSBC’s state-of-the-art securities platform and achieving clear cost benefits."