Global custodians have reversed their declining performance levels of last year, leaving most clients unscathed from the collapse of Lehman Brothers and confident that their assets are safe as the liquidity crisis deepens, according to the 2009 R&M global custody survey, published by Financial News this week.

Nine of out 12 custodians managed to improve their client service levels, two were marginally down on last year. Northern Trust's performance score fell the most dramatically, dropping 5%.