There is nothing quite so likely to put you off your celebratory champagne than an announcement that the Bank of New York (BNY), custody's most voracious predator, has taken a 4.9% stake in your business 'for investment purposes'.

Pity, then, poor KAS-Associatie, the specialist Dutch bank, which has recently garnered some excellent publicity for its proposed assault on the UK pension fund sector, but is now being talked about more as a possible takeover target than as a custody provider for those small and medium funds that the big boys won't touch.