By Anita Hawser
BEST BANK FOR LIQUIDITY MANAGEMENT
NORTH AMERICA
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
The large global cash management banks have invested heavily in their liquidity management capabilities, particularly when it comes to helping companies gain a consolidated global view of their liquidity across multiple banks. By linking its North American treasury management platform to other regions, BofA Merrill says it is able to “take a holistic, global view” when it comes to managing client’s liquidity. BofA Merrill’s Global Liquidity Platform was designed to rapidly deploy more advanced liquidity management solutions.
WESTERN EUROPE
Royal Bank of Scotland
A consistent winner in this category, RBS in 2011 launched its Liquidity Solutions Portal, which makes it easier for treasurers to view their cash across multiple bank accounts and currencies in real time. Self-servicing capabilities also means they can go in and change pooling and sweeping structures, which is a key differentiator in the market. Multibank Cash Concentration customers can use the portal to amend the timing, frequency and amount for sweeps and central bank reporting data. Investment parameters can also be set in advance for automated investment of excess liquidity. The bank also provides a wide range of investment solutions for clients looking to maximize their yield on excess liquidity.
ASIA
Standard Chartered
The bank’s Global Multicurrency Notional pooling solution allows cash balances to be pooled so that interest earned is optimized and interest costs are minimized. It is investing in a next-generation global liquidity platform to incorporate the latest sweeping and pooling services across a number of markets. It provides multicurrency notional pooling across a wide range of locations and currencies in Asia Pacific. It has implemented multientity sweeping structures for clients to help them finance other parts of their business.
LATIN AMERICA
Citi
Citi says it has the most comprehensive liquidity management network and extensive experience in implementing cross-border and multibank liquidity management structures. Its investment in platforms such as TreasuryVision and TreasuryAnalytics provides treasurers with the visibility, information and benchmarking tools they need to better manage their liquidity and investments. Clients use its TreasuryVision platform to aggregate “end-of-day” bank balances globally, and clients that use its cash-forecasting capabilities report high levels of accuracy.
NORDIC REGION
SEB
In addition to the usual liquidity management structures (pooling and sweeping) that clients have come to expect from their cash management banks, SEB looks at the financial supply chain holistically as part of its Corporate Financial Value Chain concept. The value chain enables firms to benchmark their performance across different segments (purchasing, risk management, cash positioning, cash forecasting, short-term investment and funding, and payments and collections) so that they can pinpoint areas that can be improved in order to optimize working capital and liquidity.
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
Royal Bank of Scotland
As companies look to optimize their excess cash and liquidity, RBS has witnessed significant growth across its cross-currency notional pools and physical cash pools. Average sweep volumes have also increased. RBS is able to engineer solutions for clients looking to manage their liquidity across multiple currencies, including euros, sterling, CEE currencies such as the Czech koruna and US dollars.
AFRICA
Standard Chartered
Clients in the region can use Standard Chartered’s notional pooling with interest optimization. Solutions it provides help treasurers reduce the amount of interest they pay on overdrafts or sweep funds from other markets into a regional pool. Standard Chartered’s comprehensive liquidity management offering spans its operations in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
MIDDLE EAST
Standard Chartered
In the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Qatar and Lebanon, Standard Chartered provides a full suite of liquidity management solutions—except in those markets where regulatory restrictions prohibit cross-border sweeping of funds. Standard Chartered can also sweep funds from third-party bank accounts in all markets where it has a bilateral arrangement with other banks.
Treasury & Cash Management Awards 2012
