For immediate release:  February 9, 2000
For more information:  Barton Potter (360) 902-9033

State Treasurer Awards First-Ever Statewide Custody Contract to Bank of New York

OLYMPIA—Bank of New York (BONY) has been named winner of a bid to provide securities custody services to local governments across Washington, Treasurer Michael J. Murphy announced today.

The contract, the first of its kind in the nation, follows through on 1999 legislation that authorized the Treasurer to negotiate a custody contract on behalf of local governments and institutions of higher education. Murphy acted on a recommendation of the Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) Advisory Committee in selecting BONY.

“This was a groundbreaking process in the securities custody business,” Murphy said. “It will help local governments get the best rate and terms from a single financial institution for custody banking services.” The contract is expected to increase the level of service for smaller local governments while costing less, Murphy said.

Because OST only negotiates the contract, each participating entity will have its own contract with the custodian and thus more control over investments and participation in the voluntary contract. Local governments will also save time through the contract because they will not have to do their own custody search. The “pooling” feature of the program will allow smaller entities to benefit from the same advantageous rates and terms now available to larger local governments.

A group of likely clients of the statewide custody contract helped Murphy and his staff work through the selection process. The evaluation team helped develop Request for Information (RFI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) documents, evaluated vendor responses, participated in collaborative sessions and site visits with potential vendors, and made a final recommendation to the State Treasurer.

Members of the evaluation team were Judy Ainslie, Cowlitz County Treasurer; Mary Carlson, Western Washington University; Paula Henderson, Regional Transit Authority; Tim Jensen, City of Yakima; and Arif Kanji, Snohomish County. In addition, a review team helped develop the RFI and RFP documents. Members of the review team were Linda Bruce, City of Spokane; Sylvia Costich, City of Vancouver; Judi Morris, Jefferson County Treasurer; Alana Pizzuto, Skagit County; Ron Strabbing, Grays Harbor County Treasurer; and Mark Wyman, Snohomish County PUD. Treasurer’s staff who played key roles in the selection process included Douglas Extine, deputy treasurer and RFP coordinator; Lisa Hennessy, Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) administrator; and Cristin Wilson, LGIP portfolio manager. Questions can be directed to Extine at 360-902-9012 or doug@tre.wa.gov.

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