BNP Paribas Securities Services has been selected by Mapfre Inversion, the Spain-based investment management firm, to provide custody services for its portfolio of assets totalling €60 billion ($63.3 billion)

Mapfre previously outsourced its custody business to multiple service providers but aims to save costs by handing the entire responsibility to BNP Paribas. 

The move will also free up resources for Mapfre’s core business, the insurance provider said.

“These changes reflect both Mapfre’s global management approach and the group’s strategic plan, moving toward specific development of the Mapfre Inversion business,” the statement read.

The deal marks the first major European securities services mandate announced by BNP Paribas since the French bank appointed Emma Crabtree as head of sales, continental Europe, at the end of 2016. 

In October the US branch was selected to provide custody services to US central counterparty CME Clearing. 

Last week the New York-based division appointed Claudine Gallagher to lead the securities services across the entire Americas region. 

The former JP Morgan executive joined the bank in 2012 and has been a key figure behind the firm’s US expansion.