Technology is forever being touted as a critical area of capability when custody clients look to separate the sheep from the goats. The Bank of New York, for instance, will happily admit that last year its total systems spend amounted to no less than $595m ([euro]606m) – which, as far as bragging rights go, has got to be pretty tough to beat.

It comes as something of a surprise, then, that the technology currently generating the biggest ripples in the custody pond is being road-tested by one of the industry's veritable tiddlers, Clydesdale Bank Global Securities Services (GSS).