Santander sells Caceis stake back to Credit Agricole

Banco Santander has offloaded its 30.5% stake in asset servicing provider Caceis back to Crédit Agricole, the Spanish and French banks have announced.

Caceis, an asset servicing bank which provides execution, clearing, custody, depositary and fund administration services, will be fully controlled by the French lender following the transaction.

The deal, which is expected to complete next year, will allow Crédit Agricole to strengthen Caceis's position as a "major European asset servicing player, supporting its clients’ business development objectives", the bank said in a statement.

Caceis has experienced robust growth in recent years, helped by the recent integration of RBC Investor Services' operations in Europe – purchased last summer – which has enabled the company to expand its clients base and product range, Crédit Agricole said.

"The transaction is consistent with the Crédit Agricole Group's targets in terms of return of investment and return on tangible equity, and will have a negative impact of approximately 30 basis points on the fully-loaded CET1 ratio of Crédit Agricole," the lender said.