There was a time when the occasional flying visit was all that Nordic investors would expect from their custodian, but not any more. The changing financial environment has led three of the big five custody banks to set up a permanent base in the region.

Two of them have established a presence there in the past seven weeks. Northern Trust opened its first regional office in Stockholm at the beginning of last month and this month JP Morgan launched its local presence by placing at least 10 staff in four of the region's five capitals - Reykjavik is the exception - a year on from buying a global custody portfolio from regional bank Nordea.