BNY Mellon, the global leader in investment management and investment services, has been appointed by ContourGlobal, as corporate trustee for the loan financing of its $142 million KivuWatt lakebed methane-to-power plant in Rwanda. ContourGlobal develops, acquires and operates electric-power and district-heating resources around the world and this financing is the largest single private investment in Rwanda’s history, and its first project financing initiative.

BNY Mellon will act as facility agent, offshore account bank and security trustee for the project, which is being financed by the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), the African Development Bank, and Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries NV/SA (BIO).

The project will remove and process otherwise hazardous methane gas trapped in the waters of Lake Kivu for use as fuel to generate critically needed electricity for sale to Rwanda’s Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA). EWSA is the national power utility of Rwanda, where the vast majority of the population does not currently have access to electricity.

“We are delighted to have the BNY Mellon team involved in the transaction and for their important contributions to the closing and ongoing administration of the financing” said, William Barry, Vice President of Business Development, ContourGlobal. “Their experience of dealing with complex documentation and numerous interested parties helped ensure that everything was successfully completed within a tight timescale.”

Michael Adams, managing director of BNY Mellon Corporate Trust said: “BNY Mellon serves as an impartial link between borrowers and lenders in infrastructure projects. Our independence and objectivity has been a major factor in winning mandates in a field where lenders to projects have traditionally also performed the facility agent role.”

“The KivuWatt project financing is one of the most innovative in the history of electricity generation and we are pleased to have been part of this process and the benefits it will bring the people of Rwanda.”

Eagle Asset Management, a St. Petersburg, Fla-based institutional and retail asset management has tapped the Dimension investment management system from SimCorp to replace multiple proprietary investment accounting, performance and clent reporting systems.

Fleming Family & Partners (FF&P) Asset Management has appointed Societe Generale Securities Services Russia (ROSBANK) as Custodian (Depositary) and Investment Funds Trustee (Specialized Depositary). SGSS Russia will provide custody, fund trustee and transfer-agent services for the full range of local open-ended and closed-ended funds managed by FF&P AM in Russia.

State Street Corporation, one of the world’s leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, announced today that AU$18 billion Australian superannuation fund Sunsuper has appointed State Street Australia Limited as its custodian.

J.P. Morgan has expanded its Prime Custody service to make it available to hedge fund clients of its European Prime Brokerage business. 

China Construction Bank (CCB) has selected BNY Mellon as global custodian for a new qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) fund in China launched by Fortune SG Fund Management Co. Ltd in September. CCB is the domestic custodian for this QDII fund in China.

Societe Generale Securities Services (SGSS) has been named “Custodian of the Year for France” for a second consecutive year in the ICFA (International Custody and Fund Administration) European Custody and Fund Administration Awards 2011.