Custodians have long feared being disintermediated by central securities depositories. Since the G30 report of March 1989, which recommended every market build a CSD, their number has increased from 28 to 150.

The number of global custodians has shrunk in the same period from 40 to 10. Correlation is not causation but it is worth remembering that the G30 report, like the creation of the Depository Trust Company in 1973, was a response to custodial failure.