Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) has said it is looking to grow its US custody and global securities lending businesses in parallel, as it welcomes its latest recruit from Deutsche.

Based in New York, Bill Browne joins Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB), the bank's trust arm, as vice president.

Akira Iwamoto, head of the trust division at MUTB New York, told Global Investor: “Bill will be part of a team reporting to Anthony Mogavero which is tasked with supporting both our growing US domestic custody business as well as our global securities lending solutions business.” 

Browne is MUTB’s latest hire from Deutsche where he worked for 12 years, most recently as product manager for cash management.

He was global chief operating officer (COO) for securities services at Deutsche Bank from 2014 to 2016, a division which includes agency securities lending, custody & clearing, and funds services.

After that, he was regional COO for cash management for the Americas at the bank until 2018, providing USD cash management and transfer services to institutions and corporates. Prior to this, he was vice president at BNY Mellon for two years.

The bank also said it has been discussing to expand the team with more hires.

“MUTB has been providing both US custody and securities lending services in the Americas for more than 20 years where many of our clients have been from Japan but now we see much more interest and demand from US-based clients,” Iwamoto added.

Over the last two years, MUTB has ramped up its global securities lending solutions business hiring several senior members from Deutsche Bank’s agency securities lending team. This includes Tim Smollen, Anthony Toscano and John Schreyer and most recently Thomas Ryan in New York and James Aris in London.

Browne said: “I am looking forward to being part of these growing businesses and reconnecting with the likes of Tim Smollen, Anthony Toscano, Frank Gambino and Tom Ryan.”

In July, MUFG added to its securities lending business development team with the appointment of Robert May from BNP Paribas.

Earlier this month, the State University Retirement System of Illinois selected MUTB as their third-party securities lending agent.