When Jeremy 'Jumbo' Jewitt is relaxing this summer, with a glass of something restorative in his hand, he can reflect on an extraordinary four years at the helm of Chase's custody business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea). Jewitt steps down in May, having taken up the reins in 1997 after the Chase/Chemical integration was complete. Since then he has overseen the integration of the Morgan Stanley/Barclays custody book, as well as being one of the senior midwives at the birth of what is now JP Morgan Investor Services (JPMIS). Just for good measure, his group has also taken on responsibility for Hexagon, the fund administration arm that came as part of the bank's acquisition of Fleming, the UK investment bank.

For many businesses, that would have been quite enough. Chase, however, is different. Since one of its managers coined the term 'global custody' back in the 1970s, Chase has been a market leader. In the days when Chase and Citibank were banking's fiercest rivals, custody was one product line where Chase always had the edge. Moreover, despite the fact that it has been through more mergers and acquisitions in the past 10 years than most banks have in their entire histories, it has always continued to win the big mandates.