Butterfield Bank has entered into an agreement to acquire Deutsche Bank’s Global Trust Solutions business, excluding its US operations, it announced this morning.

Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.

Upon completion of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, Butterfield will take over the ongoing management and administration of the GTS portfolio, comprising of approximately 1,000 trust structures for some 900 private clients.

Butterfield is also offering positions to all employees who are fully dedicated to GTS in the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Switzerland, Singapore and Mauritius. This will ensure continuity of service for clients.

Butterfield will partner with Deutsche Bank to provide trust solutions to Deutsche Bank’s clients on an ongoing basis.

Michael Collins, Butterfield’s chairman and chief executive officer said: “Trust is a core business for us, and the acquisition of the Deutsche Bank Global Trust Solutions business enables us to add scale and professional bench strength to our trust operations in Switzerland, Guernsey and Cayman.

“It also provides us with a physical presence in Asia, which we view as a growth market for Butterfield. We look forward to welcoming GTS clients and staff to Butterfield and to the development of new business from an ongoing partnership with Deutsche Bank’s wealth management team.”

With client assets of around 299 billion euros, Deutsche Bank’s wealth management business is one of the largest wealth managers worldwide.

Fabrizio Campelli, Deutsche Bank’s global head of wealth management, said: “Butterfield is a well-known leader in the trust industry and we look forward to working with them to provide our clients with a broader product offering. The divestiture represents an important step in our strategy of simplifying our business and positioning wealth management for growth in our core markets.”

Butterfield has been providing trust and fiduciary services to international clients for more than 80 years. Its award-winning trust business comprises more than 200 professionals based in the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Switzerland, who provide estate and succession planning services, efficient co-ordination of family affairs, and administration of complex holding structures for a wide variety of financial and non-financial assets.

As of 30 September, 2017, Butterfield Trust had Assets Under Administration of approximately $95.2 billion.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2018, subject to customary closing conditions.