Cash Management Survey 2021 - Financial Institution
This is the 20th annual survey of the world's cash management industry. With an average response base in excess of 30,000, this is the most authoritative and comprehensive ranking available.
For details of the Euromoney Cash Management survey for Non-Financial Institutions, please click here.
Cash Management Survey Results 2021
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The Euromoney Cash Management Survey recognises the leading providers of cash management products and services. This year we collected 562 valid responses for the Financial Institutions Survey.
About the Cash Management Survey:
Euromoney’s Cash Management Survey receives responses from the leading cash managers, treasurers and financial officers worldwide, and is considered the benchmark survey for the global cash management industry. This is the most comprehensive guide to the cash management arena in the market
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Direct lending may have benefitted from the resurgence in US private equity buy outs in the first half of the year, but there may still be a return to syndicated markets.
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Bullish US companies are looking beyond historically high interest rates and tight lending standards when it comes to commercial lending.
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Proponents of banking-as-a-service will be hoping that UniCredit’s decision to acquire Aion Bank and Vodeno marks a turning point in a sector that has experienced considerable volatility.
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Investing in Latin America’s payment fintechs is having a moment – but will the region’s central banks kill off their revenue model by adopting their own version of Brazil’s PIX?
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Transaction banks in Asia will have to up their game to satisfy corporates who now view a strong digital offering as a prerequisite to maintaining relationships.
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The spectre of increased liability for financial officers looms large over the UK government’s plans to reform the audit profession.
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As multinationals navigate the complexities of developing Asian businesses – amid supply-chain reconfigurations, the rise of sustainable financing and the penetration of e-commerce – treasurers are playing a bigger role in strategic decision-making.
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After years of being off the table due to historically low interest rates, treasurers can now realistically look to profit from rate differentials between currencies.
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Wholesale banking head Andrew Bester explains the renowned retail bank’s ambition to win new revenues building on its expertise in sustainable finance.
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A report published by management consultancy Baringa at the end of May suggested that UK firms face the largest-ever increase in debt-driven costs between now and the end of 2026.
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The disconnect between global economic growth and commodity prices is focusing treasurers’ minds on hedging exposures to everything from cocoa to cobalt.
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The bank is targeting the often-overlooked service sector with structured solutions, along with identifying embedded finance as a fast-growing segment. With the launch of Global Trade Solutions, it goes beyond traditional product offerings and financing.
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Bankruptcies in the buy-now-pay-later market, together with tighter regulation, present an opportunity for banks to steal a march on pure-play providers.
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The limitations of the Alternative Investment Market are forcing many companies to explore other sources of funding. Nevertheless, there is optimism that the market for small and medium-sized growth companies can be revived.
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Mamerto Tangonan, the deputy governor and head of the payments and currency management sector at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, tells Euromoney how southeast Asian countries are using advances in digital payments to revolutionize cross-border transactions.
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There is pressure on corporate treasurers to maximise the benefits of embedded finance, despite the lack of additional resources.
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With corporates taking a more holistic view of sustainability, banks are under pressure to address concerns over reporting and verification requirements for sustainable working capital, trade finance and liquidity management products.
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Euromoney recently sat down in Dubai with the heads of investment banking for HSBC in the Middle East. The conversation focused on the burgeoning trade and deal flow between the Gulf region and Asia, what investors on both sides are looking for and why they like what they see.
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MBridge, China’s cross-border digital currency initiative, has entered the minimum viable product stage. It is the world’s most advanced cross-border CBDC and stands on the cusp of playing a pivotal role in the de-dollarization process.
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The recent resurgence in M&A activity has driven interest in deal-contingent hedging as firms look for a buffer against unfavourable FX or interest-rate movements.
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Does the high number of drawn-out insolvency cases in the UK suggest a failure of regulation?
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By starting from a blank sheet of paper, Royal Bank of Canada hopes its new US cash-management platform will allow it to capture a greater share of wallet from existing clients while not being held back by legacy technology.
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Corporate treasurers are playing it safe when balancing the merits of exploiting improved access to capital against the risk of unexpected economic shocks and business interruption.
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Will increased transparency in the European corporate bond market lead to higher transaction costs for large trades?
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Banks and regulators are keen to use instant payments to reduce the influence of Visa and Mastercard on the European payments industry – but replacing these two dominant players will be far from easy.
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Chief financial officers and finance directors have much to gain from bundling treasury services if they can convince senior management that such offerings deliver value for money.
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As mandated real-time payments loom, Europe’s banks and other payment providers must look at modernising legacy infrastructure.
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Corporates’ longstanding complaint on banks’ payments offerings is that they don’t know what they are being charged for but suspect it is too much. Airwallex now provides an alternative at global scale.
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Digital negotiable instruments offer the prospect of improved working capital and better liquidity, but they face implementation challenges.
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Quarterly survey reveals that UK finance professionals may be feeling more upbeat about prospects, but that this is yet to translate into a willingness to take greater risk onto balance sheets.
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The EU’s Instant Payments Regulation may have fired the starting gun on real-time payments in Europe, but many banks remain stuck in the blocks.
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As banks retreat to their home markets, they must find reliable partners to serve corporate customers overseas or risk losing them.
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The challenges around distributed ledger technology implementation and integration for bond issuance have proved more significant than early proponents had hoped.
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Market conditions have heightened concerns over the potential cost of failed securities settlement as the world’s largest financial market prepares to move to T+1.
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The decision by the US SEC to drop mandatory Scope 3 reporting weakens global emissions reporting standards. However, many corporate issuers are already using Scope 3 performance targets on sustainability-linked transactions for non-regulatory reasons. Are the debt and equities markets leading companies onto ESG ground upon which regulators fear to tread?
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While welcome, initiatives by the government and financial sector bodies designed to make it easier for companies to raise funds in the UK face a number of obstacles.
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In a world of higher interest rates, economic uncertainties and data overload, corporate treasurers are turning to cutting-edge tools and strategies to predict and optimize their cash flows.
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The German lender’s decision to put its chips on southeast Asia is paying off handsomely. Under the leadership of Asia CEO Alexander von zur Mühlen, Deutsche Bank has doubled its capital in Vietnam and Indonesia, with more to come, moved a host of global roles to the region, and has seen Asean eclipse its India and China business in terms of growth and absolute numbers.
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Asset managers and industry regulators face operational challenges around the tokenization of private assets.
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Corporates seeking to leverage sustainable investment opportunities continue to be restricted by the lack of reliable data on which to base their assessments.
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Many vendors believe corporate treasurers should be doing more to eliminate superfluous accounts, protect payment data and direct resources to improving paper-based processes.
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Leading commercial banks are focusing on their approach to relationship management to reassure corporate customers that they are being listened to.
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There was a big rise in the number of respondents to Euromoney’s Trade Finance Survey 2024 who received an increase in credit from their trade banks last year – 45.7%, up from 41.8% in 2023.
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More than 60% of respondents to Euromoney’s 2024 trade finance survey expect an increase in use of trade financing over the next three years.
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Some 50.6% of respondents to this year’s Euromoney Trade Finance Survey say the cost of credit from their trade banks has increased over the past 12 months, compared with 45.4% in 2023.
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Domestic companies launch banking-as-a-service models as the country's central bank creates space for new entrants.
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Traditional custodians are maintaining their dominance in the face of growing fintech activity in the sector.
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Boosting the role of corporate treasury by enabling it to centralize group-wide FX management may sound appealing, but implementation and cost challenges should not be underestimated.
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Accommodating credit markets mean that corporates are keen to get fundraising completed ahead of elections on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Corporates continue to exhibit worrying levels of complacency when it comes to the implications of rate rises for their bottom line.
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Trade-receivables securitization transactions are flourishing as corporates seek more affordable access to long-term financing.
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Uneven progress towards financial market reform across the continent continues to pose a challenge for ambitious African corporates.
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While the world’s biggest markets are still preparing for T+1 settlement, talk is growing of the next step – but going any faster would mean a total reworking of how markets function.
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It is not hard to find short-term worries over global markets’ state of readiness for the US’s transition to one-day settlement in late May. But even if the UK, Europe and those Asian markets still using two-day settlement can adapt to the shift in the longer term, they will also face intense pressure to lessen their dislocation from the US cycle by copying its move. Many also fear the ultimate end-game of same-day or even instant settlement.
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Corporates are adopting a variety of approaches to mitigate the impact of uncertainty in foreign exchange markets caused by divergence in economic policy and performance.
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Collaboration between national banks has seen widespread adoption of mobile payments schemes. The French and German-led approach of focusing on a single European scheme could therefore be seen as a distraction. But is it the only real way of keeping US payment companies at bay?
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Implementing real-time payments can have consequences for corporates who underestimate the impact of cash leaving their business more quickly. Even as solutions become cheaper to implement, corporates are being cautious.
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Proposed regulatory changes will not dull treasurers’ appetite for money-market funds, even if interest rates are cut more aggressively than expected.
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Many companies still ignore the contribution that properly resourced treasury teams make to corporate performance.
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Elevated inflation and interest rates have focused treasury attention on the importance of diversification, particularly for those with an environmental, social or governance focus.
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Strategic adjustments, such as those resulting from mergers or acquisitions, represent a valuable opportunity for corporates to enhance their payment infrastructure.
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Siemens is anchor client for a new rules-based approach to banking.
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Many corporates are realising the benefits of intercompany netting on FX risk, trading and cash-flow visibility.
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The commodities firm still needs large banking groups and a range of options when it comes to supporting its operations.
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Thailand wants to give almost every adult in the country money through a digital wallet. It’s an interesting step towards bringing digital finance to the mainstream.
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Kenyan authorities have cleared Flutterwave of wrongdoing following an anti-money-laundering case in the East African nation. Nevertheless, industry confidence in the Africa-focused payments company remains mixed.
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The overall use of cash will continue to fall, but the decline of bank branch networks means that businesses now face a headache in handling physical takings.
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While the air at the Singapore Fintech Festival was full of grand ideas about GenAI, real innovation was taking place in the weeds of fintech development.
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Standard Chartered’s corporate and institutional bank can increase its profitability even when rates fall, divisional head Simon Cooper tells Euromoney. After reaping the benefit of investments in cash management, he is now turning to the financial markets business, especially credit – reinforcing efforts to grow clients in Europe and the Americas.
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Competition for deposits is influencing pricing decisions on commercial loans. However, the major cash-management banks insist that they have maintained both deposit levels and lending rates.
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Data hoarding, ESG illiteracy and credit risk are roadblocks for regional banks looking to establish sustainable supply-chain financing programmes in the Gulf, just as COP28 approaches.
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Transaction banks must help their corporate clients to make the best use of new technologies, but without burdening them with unsustainable IT spending commitments.
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Lack of standardization is one of the main reasons why API adoption has been slow in certain markets.
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Liquidity concerns and the search for yield are encouraging corporates to expand their roster of cash management service providers.
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The big cash management banks are confident that offering a wider range of services will enable them to maintain their market strength.
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Banks say they are working hard to maintain an edge in an increasingly crowded and fragmented cross-border retail payments market.
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While banks have accelerated digital solutions across business lines, accomplishing end-to-end digitalization of global trade remains far beyond their reach. The complexity of supply-chain finance remains a challenge, and banks continue to hunt for scalable solutions. Embedded finance could be the answer.
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The inability of trade-finance participants to fully leverage the value of the data generated by transactions remains a source of frustration, particularly for small businesses.
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Banks may be retreating from lending directly to small and medium-sized enterprises, but by lending to credit specialists with good technology they can still be a source of funding for the sector.
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Widespread use of ISO 20022 could have a far-reaching impact on supply-chain finance by facilitating faster processing of transactions.
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While foreign investment in China has fallen, supply-chain shift is a different story. Rather than transferring their main production away from China, manufacturers are cultivating deep regional supply chains across Asia and beyond.
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It took five years for the invoice finance specialist Accelerated Payments to advance its first €1 billion, but just nine months for the next €500 million.
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Transaction banks are collaborating with ERP system vendors and other fintechs to maximise corporate use cases for ISO 20022.
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Corporate treasury expectations for on-demand financial information are yet to be addressed. The difficulty of gathering data from disparate systems should not be underestimated.
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Euromoney talks to Jacques Levet, chief digital officer at BNP Paribas, about the competitive advantage that newly acquired FX fintech Kantox offers.
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Beneath the Great Game geopolitics of US-Vietnam relations, there are some intriguing possibilities in the detail.
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Securities finance practitioners are taking a mix of approaches to managing cash, funding and liquidity in a shortened settlement cycle.
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Overall volatility in commodities markets may have dropped from the highs of last year, but uncertainty in specific sectors continues to put pressure on corporate hedging strategies.
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For decades, transaction banking was a profitable but largely ignored corner of the banking industry. Then Covid happened. Today, bank chiefs see it as critical to everything they do. Given the challenges ahead – collaborating with fintechs and embedding ESG principles in global supply chains – the revolution under way in this business is unstoppable.
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Corporates appreciate the value of APIs when it comes to connectivity for services such as payment order transfers, cash balance updates and payment status updates. But a lack of uniform data standards continues to hinder their wider adoption.
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Two new platforms show how India is building on top of its digital foundations.
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Banks are calling for greater cooperation from regulators as they address demands for cheaper and faster cross-border payments.
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The volume of payments processed outside the traditional banking sector is growing rapidly. But banks remain confident that they can remain competitive against non-bank or fintech alternative platforms.
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The domestic economy is flatlining while interest rates continue to rise, but the booming banking sector has helped overall UK corporate payouts keep pace with those elsewhere.
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While central banks announce the latest controlled tests on blockchain-based digital money, a handful of leading commercial banks are already in full production.
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With Apple set to take an even bigger bite out of UK in-person transaction volumes, rival providers of payment technology will be looking to up their game.
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Thames Water has become the highest profile example of a UK corporation that finds itself hamstrung by inflation-linked bonds issued at a time when persistent high inflation and economic stagnation seemed unlikely bedfellows.
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Accessing funds via debt capital or private placement may seem like an onerous task, but a growing number of corporates see it as an opportunity to mitigate the impact of changes to bank-capital deployment.
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The increased corporate focus on environmental, social and governance issues is impacting treasury teams that can struggle to justify their initiatives.
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Providers of trade finance remain bullish despite predictions that growth in global trade will stagnate during the remainder of this year.
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Banks must address the nature and quality of trade finance roles to address staff longevity concerns.
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Sinan Ozcan, senior executive officer of DP World Trade Finance – part of the company that handles around one-eighth of global trade volumes – talks to Euromoney about its plans to finance these volumes as well.
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High interest rates and low bank appetite for risk have created the perfect conditions for a renaissance in invoice factoring.
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The green transition is boosting demand for key metals and Africa’s commodity markets are under pressure to increase extraction. But buyer awareness of Scope 3 emissions means that processes need to be cleaned up and fast.
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Better AML controls across traditional financial systems have increased the appeal of international trade as a conduit for fraud.
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Extreme FX volatility is proving a challenge for some finance directors who are struggling to minimize the impact on their bottom line.
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Most leading providers of trade finance have welcomed changes to disclosure rules despite research suggesting they could negatively impact demand.
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As interest rate volatility persists, corporates are taking a hard look at their trade finance options.
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The evolution of Brazil’s central bank payments programme could be good news for banks.
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The banking sector appears to be quietly confident that the European Commission will row back on new regulation that, if enacted, could notably increase the cost of some trade-finance instruments.
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The big transaction banks are becoming increasingly active in the B2B marketplace as they seek to cash in on corporate digital transformation.
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Growing treasury demand for advisory services from banks suggests that investment in predictive analytics applications at the latter is starting to bear fruit.
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Marketplace lending providers are pinning their hopes on challenging economic conditions to persuade investors that they can disrupt the lending market.
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Turkish airline Pegasus hopes an innovative funding solution tied to sustainability targets will help it increase capacity despite challenging market conditions.
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Twinco Capital facilitates access to sustainable funding by focusing on pre-production finance.
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Rising interest rates have driven demand for more efficient liquidity structures.
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Business-to-business buy-now-pay-later providers are optimistic that economic uncertainty and higher interest rates will drive corporates to pay suppliers sooner and secure inventory more rapidly.
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HSBC’s global head of trade finance talks about how the bank has built 'the trade finance platform for the future'.
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Short-term government bonds have re-emerged as a viable option for corporate treasurers seeking returns on their cash, but recent events in the US banking sector highlight the risks of long-dated exposures.
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The former Barclays chief executive is set to scale up the core banking-technology provider that aims to do banking 10 times better.
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Patents are a high-profile demonstration of a bank’s commitment to innovation, but they are not the only option for those looking to encourage new ways of thinking.
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Banks’ digital-transformation ambitions continue to be checked by difficulties in combining customer data from disparate systems and sharing information across the industry.
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Firms betting on interest-rate declines will be hoping that inflation does not force central banks to raise the cost of borrowing again.
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As the EU prepares to vote on its Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation in April, the UK government is hoping to steal a march as a location for cryptoasset businesses.
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The impact of the supply chain disruption that was such a notable feature of last year’s trade finance survey continues to be felt as banks widen the range of services designed to improve corporate resilience.
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Big transaction banks are responding to corporate customer demand for sustainability linked supplier-finance programmes by extending the geographical availability and range of the products they offer.
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Banks and corporates are taking a variety of approaches to mitigating the impact of rising interest rates, quantitative tightening and economic uncertainty on the availability of liquidity.
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Appetite for corporate issuance remains robust as investors dismiss recession fears and take on credit exposure.
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With little likelihood of currency volatility subsiding any time soon, corporates continue to face difficult decisions when it comes to how best to mitigate FX risk.
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The European Commission has mandated instant payments across the eurozone, and banks must urgently ensure that their payment systems are fit for purpose.
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As the treasury sector reflects on another eventful year, Euromoney looks at likely developments for the next 12 months.
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Account-to-account payments have become a priority area for regulators, but industry participants argue that rule makers need to do more to support wider use of pay-by-bank services.
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The leading transaction banks are taking a proactive approach to balancing the conflicting demands of chief financial officers – who are prioritizing cost reduction – and treasurers, who are focused on increasing operational efficiency.
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Strategies and financing need to be radically reassessed to achieve sustainability in a rapidly changing world.
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The dominance of embedded finance and BaaS by fintechs is now being challenged by established financial institutions.
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The DAC space is crowded. Nevertheless, BNY Mellon has gone further than most of its peers in embracing crypto.
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DeFi is touted as a solution to the multi-trillion dollar global trade-finance gap, despite tech concerns.
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Capgemini’s world payments report highlights dissatisfaction among smaller clients with the services offered.
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Brazil’s agribusiness sector is booming on the back of sky-high commodity prices. The public banks that have long financed the sector now face a wave of new private-sector competitors.
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Geopolitical and economic turmoil has taken its toll on cash management strategies during 2022. Leading transaction banks emphasize the value of investment in technology as they navigate a choppy market environment.
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Both HSBC and JPMorgan have recently boosted their digital trade finance offerings, as the ICC Centre for Digital Trade and Innovation commenced testing of digital trade systems between Singapore and the UK.
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The weakness of the pound and strength of the dollar has implications for companies on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Recent volatility has encouraged many corporates to switch out of longer tenor instruments.
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Rising interest rates and macroeconomic uncertainty mean that corporate cash balances are at very high levels.
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As corporate APIs are catching up their consumer-focused equivalents, many doubt they can replace legacy options.
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Smaller firms are expected to pull back on expenditure as recession risk rises.
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The pandemic and the war in Ukraine have brutally exposed the fragility of global supply chains.
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Simplicity remains the watchword for treasurers trying to increase returns on their cash reserves.
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While the impact on energy is centre stage, the war in Ukraine is also wreaking havoc on soft commodity prices and trade routes. Trade in agricultural commodities is taking a hit. The pool of banks financing these commodities is already dwindling, while the risks for those that remain are growing.
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More awareness by corporates of the role played by small suppliers has boosted early payment programmes.
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With less than a year to go, market participants seeking a smooth transition face a number of challenges.
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Increased use of the euro short-term rate in the swaps market could result in a Euribor decline – or demise.
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Technology advances and positive ESG considerations could help private credit reduce the global trade finance gap.
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Offloading payment infrastructure makes sense for some banks as customer demands become more sophisticated – not all.
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UK regulators have pushed big banks to establish an innovative form of payment that could leave fintechs struggling.
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The failures of we.trade and HSBC’s Serai highlight the challenges that blockchain-based solutions face.
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Progress on implementing the proposed minimum global tax rate may be uneven, but it will have implications for all.
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Several FIs hope to capitalize on an easing in physical supply-chain constraints to extend trade-finance offerings.
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Supply-chain disruption has driven up corporate stock holdings. Firms may move excess inventory off balance sheet.
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Businesses are tying up cash in payroll that could be used to boost working capital.
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The blockchain-based cross-border payments platform will operate across 15 countries.
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The International Chamber of Commerce is confident the UK Centre for Digital Trade & Innovation will spur standards.
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Patchy inter-company loan administration could leave corporates exposed to breaches of transfer pricing guidance.
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Digitalizing and automating its FX risk management has notably improved a pharma's treasury function.
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Spikes in shipping prices have hit mid- and lower-tier commodity trading companies at a time of bank caution.
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European corporates saw losses from currency volatility fall late last year, so hedging has stayed largely unchanged.
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Artificial intelligence has revolutionized cash-flow forecasting at educational services provider Pearson.
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The UK Electronic Trade Documents Bill is expected to greatly improve access to trade finance, particularly for contracts that use English law.
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Providers of business-to-business buy-now-pay-later services believe that they can provide a competitive alternative to invoice factoring. As rates rise, however, the risks embedded in the process will only grow.
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Euromoney speaks to Benjamin Seal, vice-president of treasury at US-based Cenveo, about how accurate cash forecasting has helped to address the supply-chain challenges posed by the global pandemic.
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Payment service providers have welcomed the UK Payment Systems Regulator’s plan to promote account-to-account payments, but much needs to be done to boost take-up.
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Treasurers need to reassess their approach to interest-rate hedging as monetary policy on either side of the Atlantic continues to diverge.
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Interest rate uncertainty may not have added to the complexity of the transition away from Libor pricing, but it has implications for forecasting that will only become clear as rate rises kick in.
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In a momentous year for the industry, the top tier of trade finance banks remained remarkably stable in this year’s Trade Finance Survey. Supply chain disruption will continue to bedevil the sector and liquidity provision together with digital innovation will place sizeable demands on trade finance banks in 2022.
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A combination of geographical position and commodity strength is working in the country’s favour.
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Corporates want to improve sustainability in their supply chains, but, if anything, the barriers to doing so are getting worse.
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The Russia-Ukraine war is a sobering reminder for all treasurers that geopolitical risk can escalate rapidly. The importance of forward planning cannot be overstated.
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From cash management to cybersecurity, Euromoney looks at where treasury teams are likely to be spending their money in 2022.
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China’s approach to central bank digital currency offers clues to how it may build a unique version of decentralized finance.
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Despite China’s ambitious plans for its digital currency, the e-yuan will struggle to become a lead player in international trade finance without notable changes, most importantly to capital controls.
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Despite the current financial turmoil, proponents of de-dollarization still have a mountain to climb. But blockchain and digital currencies could put their goal within eventual reach.
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The early days of war in Ukraine saw the price of bitcoin rise. New technology now improves the prospect that wealth stored in crypto may be spent.
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The prospect of China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System vying with or supplanting Swift grabbed attention in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But CIPS isn’t ready for the big time. It is too small and underdeveloped, and is a policy vehicle dominated by Beijing for the purpose of globalizing the yuan.
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In just a few years, the New Eurasian Land Bridge, which conveys rail freight between China and Europe, became a key part of Beijing’s fading Belt and Road Initiative. Thanks to sanctions levied against state operator Russian Railways, that vital trade link threatens to be disrupted – and possibly severed.
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For Putin, the threat of expulsion from Swift carries far less weight than it did in 2014. Russia’s own system for transfer of financial messages can now settle domestic transactions, but the move would still trigger a deep recession in the country.
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Treasury teams across the energy sector need to make better use of data if they are to make sense of a market that is becoming more complex.
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Even the most optimistic observers anticipate a few bumps along the road as the securities lending industry adapts to the new settlement discipline regime imposed under the CSDR.
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Securities lending enjoyed a good year in 2021 and, despite the prospect of rate hikes, corporate M&A activity offers cause for optimism for 2022.
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Non-bank lenders are offering growing volumes of embedded finance both wholesale to merchants selling on e-commerce marketplaces and to their retail customers.
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Changing bank may sound stressful, but coupled with a change of financing strategy it has enabled packaging supplier Albéa Group to achieve substantial cost savings.
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Nicolas Cailly, head of payments and cash management at Societe Generale, is responsible for growing the French bank’s cash-management franchise. He tells Euromoney why the bank’s new treasury offering is a step forward for TMS implementation.
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Corporates face challenge and opportunity as the payments industry moves towards implementation of the ISO 20022 messaging standard.
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Many banks are taking a relaxed approach to the migration of payment systems to the new messaging standard.
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Sustainable account allows corporates to measure the impact of the sustainable finance assets their deposits are referenced against.
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The digital banking expert and recently appointed chair of the UK board of Zip is confident that the buy-now-pay-later sector has nothing to fear from forthcoming regulation.
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Gerard Tuinenburg, director systems, processes and transactional banking at Unilever treasury, explains how the company is improving its cash forecasting efficiency through enhanced use of treasury data.
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Global supply-chain bottlenecks have profound implications for how and where companies will fund their operations in the future. As the lines of ships lengthen outside ports, there’s a macroeconomic cost for banks weighing on loan demand and perhaps asset quality. However, some trade and logistics financing businesses that were previously on the margins of banking are now seizing their moment.
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The World Trade Organization has suggested that the worst of the global supply chain crisis is over, but that will be of little comfort to corporates facing continued uncertainty and extra costs.
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Chief executive of commercial banking Doug Petno says advanced payments technology rather than lending is the key to winning mid-market clients.
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There is no shortage of great ideas in digitalizing trade finance. If only all these systems and programmes would talk to one another.
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Bank of America’s global and Asia-Pacific heads of receivables tell Euromoney how their artificial intelligence-powered intelligent receivables service has slashed client-matching error rates.
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There was a time when Paytm was the epitome of rising digital Asia, but the dismal opening of its IPO suggests it and its peers are no longer market darlings in the eyes of investors.
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Private wealth clients, niche asset managers and sophisticated trading firms could all have appetite for tokenized trade finance.
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Businesses in the UK struggling under Covid-related debts are sitting on assets worth £1 trillion.
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More financial institutions are moving into the banking-as-a-service market to tap into demand from corporates looking to offer multiple payment options and enhance customer loyalty.
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Nobody doubts that cross-border payments could be more efficient and less laden with intermediaries. But are JPMorgan and Oliver Wyman right to suggest that central bank digital currencies are the answer?
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This year’s cash management survey sees banks looking beyond purely pandemic-related challenges to focus on sustainable finance and investment in technology.
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Under new leadership and with new technology, the Dutch merchant bank pivots from shipping loans to digital lending to SMEs across Europe.
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Proponents of the technology have described non-fungible tokens as a unique opportunity to establish ownership of specific assets across the trade finance spectrum. Are they right?
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A new blockchain-based payments platform is backed by JPMorgan, DBS and Temasek. It is the source of some pride to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, as the new business is the result of a long-term financial experiment.
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Acquisitions by Santander’s new global payments platform will focus on technology and talent, not consolidating legacy businesses, says PagoNxt chief executive Javier San Félix.
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Citi hopes to gain an edge in the highly competitive – and lucrative – securities services market by teaming up with data cloud company Snowflake to improve information flows across transactions.
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All-in-one TMSs are not about to disappear, but with fintechs developing solutions focused on specific treasury functions, using more than one platform is a viable option.
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JPMorgan’s move into the in-vehicle payments market reflects the ever-growing impact of financial technology on the automotive industry.
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Francesca Nenci, the recently appointed global head of trade finance at UniCredit, talks to Euromoney about the bank’s trade finance business and the client trends that will shape her approach to her new position.
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The established banks have mixed feelings about the growth of buy-now-pay-later as they ponder new payment options that are undercutting lucrative credit-card transactions.
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Widespread use of digital currencies will reshape the way liquidity is managed, but it will also force banks and corporates to move away from long-established practices.
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The likely use of central bank digital currency for payments, in addition to stablecoins and altcoins, would suggest that reports of the demise of the correspondent banking model may be premature.
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Societe Generale’s decision to launch a joint treasury management solution with Kyriba is just the latest example of banks and technology vendors collaborating to offer more sophisticated treasury functionality.
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The US bank has launched the next generation of its global virtual account management solution to clients in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.
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A joint venture between the Asia-heavy bank and a Chinese supply chain tech player aims to make trade finance an alternative asset class with digital efficiency.
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Shell’s treasury department has provided the impetus for a dividend payment execution modernization programme that is saving the company millions of dollars every year through reduced FX exposure and lower bank fees.
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Various fraud prevention technologies are deployed across the payments industry, but there are still areas where technology is underutilized in combatting fraud related to cybercriminal attacks.
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Easier access and growing awareness among investors of the potential returns on offer are driving the use of trade receivables securitization by small and mid-sized corporates.
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Newer data formats offer greater treasury efficiency, but geographical restrictions and limited standardization mean that many corporates remain reluctant to abandon older specifications.
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Banks are taking a more proactive approach to sustainable trade finance, recognizing that their responsibilities extend beyond simply providing financially competitive products.
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With investors already struggling to generate positive yields on most money market funds, managers are concerned that proposed legislative changes could render some funds unviable.
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Banks are slowly realising the commercial promise of data and data analytics products, but there is still a long way to go for many institutions to move beyond services that deliver limited business insight.
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Given the standardization and interoperability challenges facing digital letters of credit, could wider use of digital trade finance platforms accelerate the development of alternative solutions?
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Despite concerns over recent regulatory changes, synthetic risk transfers remain a key driver for business lending in markets where private investment is underdeveloped.
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New FX platform MillTechFX reckons that rather than cannibalizing existing trading activity, it can generate new flows for its counterparty banks by undercutting standard exchange rates.
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Digitalization may be a hot topic in the treasury world, but many financial institutions remain unconvinced that the benefits justify the cost and disruption involved in moving away from in-house servers or manual signatures.
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A platform that promises to shake up the FX swaps market has taken another tentative step towards its objective of reducing banks’ liquidity buffer challenge.
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Wider adoption of digital letters of credit is being held back by limited standardization and lack of interoperability.
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HSBC’s new global wallet offering is the latest in a line of services enabling businesses to make and receive international payments from a single account.
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Banks have responded to fintech innovation in credit risk assessment by introducing more sophisticated processes for determining the financial health of trade finance customers.
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Holding digital assets on corporate balance sheets demands a clear strategy for securely managing these assets alongside traditional stores of value.
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Corporate insolvencies are poised to rise sharply once pandemic-related state support is removed. In the UK, companies must familiarize themselves with new insolvency regulations as the deadline for the removal of protections looms.
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The ongoing market and economic impact of Covid-19 is likely to trigger a more active approach from corporates to their cash strategies.
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Corporates looking to acquire digital assets for treasury purposes need to take care in their accounting treatment.
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Most open-banking solutions introduced to date have been focused on retail users, but the pandemic is driving demand from corporates for new application initiatives.
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Regulators have set high conduct standards for banks in assisting particularly smaller corporate customers with the impact of the transition away from Libor.
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Fnality applies for a DLT-based sterling payment system pointing the way to faster and more resilient decentralized financial market infrastructure.
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Banks are refining their sustainable cash-management offerings, seeking to align their corporate sustainability strategies to financing and treasury actions.
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Multinational corporations, which manage hundreds of accounts under multiple legal entities, face challenges in their efforts to automate signatory management.
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JPMorgan’s blockchain units have launched a new validation solution called Confirm. It is another small step towards mainstream use of the technology in payments.
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Corporates have a variety of tools at their disposal when it comes to getting around regulatory restrictions relating to cross-border liquidity and currency management.
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Greensill has increased investor suspicion over supply chain finance collateral, but with transparent structures and risk insurance, it can offer a decent yield.
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As economies return to something approaching normal, corporates will ramp up their focus on areas such as treasury digitalization and optimization – as well as demanding more support from their banks.
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A lack of standardization, together with patchy appreciation of its potential, means open banking continues to struggle to gain traction in many regions.
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The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted corporates to look afresh at automation and efficiency in their processes. Deutsche Bank sees a gap – even in currency-restricted markets.
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HSBC takes the top spot in Euromoney’s Trade Finance Survey for the fourth year in a row
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Euromoney’s 2021 trade finance survey reflects an unprecedented year for the industry.
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Large-scale working from home has raised the spectre of internal fraud, and treasury departments are finding it harder to conduct effective investigations.
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Accelerated technology adoption prompted by the coronavirus pandemic has enabled treasury teams to push ahead with digitalization programmes.
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Corporate treasurers have much to gain from improving their understanding of liquidity venues and trading options.
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The dinosaurs of the banking world have recognised the threat from crypto. While there is no simple choice yet for fast and cheap cross-border payments, near instant domestic payments are the new reality.
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More companies are preparing to accept payment in crypto as the number of customers with digital wallets swells. But a confusing proliferation of payment methods means that innovation has made collecting payments harder, not easier.
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Unpredictable receivables together with difficulty accessing traditional sources of liquidity have forced treasury teams to explore all possible sources of working capital during the coronavirus crisis.
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Defining the boundaries of accuracy is crucial to useable financial forecasts. Experts are, nevertheless, reluctant to advocate omitting data that has previously proved of no value.
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Data provides quantification into central but opaque market trend; PayU plans to add credit services to clients’ customers at check-out.
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The mechanics of treasury forecasting have come under intense scrutiny during the last nine months as corporates seek to optimize their cash management.
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For years, trade finance and cross-border payments have looked ripe for disruption by distributed-ledger technologies. Asia provides some firm examples of breakthroughs, but – in the second of a two-part series – Euromoney asks whether trade finance will always be just that little bit too complicated for the blockchain?
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The fintech’s fast growth highlights the large banks’ inability to adapt their technology to provide basic finance to small businesses.
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If the market for sustainable finance is ever to achieve true scale, it needs to crack the tough nut of sustainable trade finance solutions.
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Previously known as reverse factoring, sustainable supply-chain finance is one of the products currently generating the most interest among both banks and their corporate clients.
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Fourth-quarter numbers from Asia’s biggest trade finance banks suggest that business in the region has bounced back rapidly. Corporates have changed their approach to their manufacturing bases and supply chains, and have accelerated their use of technology. In the first of a two-part series, Euromoney finds there are lessons here for the rest of the world when the pandemic eventually eases.
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Treasurers have relied on traditional skills to navigate the circumstances they have faced over the past nine months. Changes forced by the pandemic will impact the way they, and their entire organizations, work in the future.
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The pan-European payments initiative benefits from links to many of Europe’s largest banks – and has fintech in its sights.
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New treasury competencies will be needed to cope with future analytical demand after the unprecedented events of 2020.
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UK regulatory approval for a new set of benchmarks could help a shattered industry emerge from the pandemic
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Corporates have much to gain from getting their subsidiary capital structures right. The key to success could lie in reducing complexity and prioritizing debt.
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Russia’s big state bank wants to be the leading player in the country’s fast-growing e-commerce sector. It could succeed.
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Many corporates remain wary of virtual accounts – so what should treasurers be looking for when considering their options?
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Despite their benefits, virtual bank accounts have failed to gain traction with the world’s largest corporations.
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With the launch of new blockchain and digital currency business Onyx, JPMorgan hasn’t let Covid delay new ideas; in fact, the crisis has helped. Two years after a structural change in treasury services, the bank has updated its ambitions.
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Open banking is making direct bank-to-bank customer payment transfers easier in the ecommerce world and is set to reduce the role of credit cards.
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Brazil’s fintechs and digital challenger banks are making more ground than traditional firms with the central bank’s new payments system.
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As a Swiss consortium completes a wholesale central bank digital currency proof-of-concept, is the payments industry ready for CBDCs?
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The digital dividend dominated the cash management market in 2020. Corporates responded well to those banks that digitalized the services they needed to stay afloat in the choppy waters of a global pandemic.
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Corporates are well aware of the benefits of treasury centralization. So why have many eschewed this approach to treasury management?
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Trade deal brings together 15 Asian nations; banks jostle to benefit.
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New entrants proposing closed-loop systems that short-circuit traditional approaches represent an existential threat that transaction bankers cannot ignore.
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In the second part of Euromoney’s focus on transaction monitoring, we look at the value of the financial intelligence being generated and how it can be shared more effectively.
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In the first part of Euromoney’s focus on transaction monitoring, we look at how compliance costs hinder funding for effective AML detection.
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Initiatives to collaborate on financial crime in the payments space continue to be hindered by poor data and compliance systems.
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Have banks and corporates underestimated the sheer complexity of digitalizing trade transactions?
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Brazil’s central bank launches a free instant-payments tool.
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BNY Mellon and GTreasury link real-time liquidity management and investment of cash but regulators are scrutinizing money market funds.
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The payment industry’s ability to withstand the disruption caused by the coronavirus suggests that lessons learned from previous outbreaks have served the industry well.
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The coronavirus crisis may have stretched the resources of corporate treasury teams, but it has also reinforced – and enhanced – their status within their own organizations.
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A pilot scheme taking place in Shenzhen this week offers a glimpse into China’s plans to build the world’s first national digital currency.
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The disruption caused by coronavirus has accelerated the move towards automated accounts payable processes as corporates seek an accurate and real-time view of their cash position.
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No country faces a greater challenge in turning cashless than Myanmar. But KBZ’s digital wallet is making progress, under the supervision of a 29-year-old member of the family dynasty.
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New transaction-services platforms may need more than good digital technology to make headway.
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Transaction banking revenues have declined in the first six months of 2020, following three years of growth. Attributing this fall exclusively to coronavirus and low interest rates would be a mistake – there are other important factors at play.
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The world’s largest asset manager and banking leader work with Saphyre to take the pain out of custody and broker account opening for asset managers.
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Coronavirus has hit preparations for the end of Libor, but pandemic-induced rate stability could actually help the transition.
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Buoyed by relatively healthy balance sheets, corporates have demonstrated a willingness to directly support the financial health of their supply chains since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Covid-19 has not simply accelerated the push to digital but has also changed the nature of transaction banking itself.
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Covid-19 has given the Spanish bank an opportunity to demonstrate the advantages of a global SME franchise, even for clients without international operations.
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BNP Paribas has shown itself to be a bank for global corporate clients of which Europe can be proud.
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The G20 has called for renewed efforts to enhance slow and costly international payments. The founder of Worldpay and ClearBank may have the answer.
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Fraud, commodity prices and concerns over defaults have created a perfect storm for commodity trade finance – and the capacity of trading firms and finance funds to support the market remains unclear.
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For businesses trying to sell more on customers’ mobiles, the challenge of integrating proliferating payment channels is a growing headache.
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Despite the fanfare around their announcement, many of the proposed benefits of the 'fintech bridges' or bilateral agreements the UK government has reached with regulators around the world have yet to be realized.
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Banks are offering corporate mobile wallet solutions, but cultural nuances and authorization processes remain potential barriers to large-scale adoption.
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With staff working from home and use of digital signatures not yet ubiquitous, banks need to step up security measures to prevent opportunistic criminals profiting from the disruption caused by coronavirus.
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The turmoil created by the coronavirus has given blockchain trade-finance platforms a boost, but many still seem to be talking in terms of potential, rather than actual, business done.
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Financial institutions have backed the International Chamber of Commerce’s call for governments to scale up their support for trade finance to meet post-coronavirus demand.
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We asked respondents to indicate their top providers of cash management, and separately to offer detailed customer satisfaction rankings of providers based on their delivery of essential services. Those responses generate the survey's ‘market leader’ and ‘best service’ rankings.
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Lack of confidence in the quality of their information – and their ability to analyze it – means many of the world’s largest companies continue to eschew one of the techniques designed to assess and manage FX risk.
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There’s practically nothing that a North American small to medium-sized enterprise might want to do that Bank of America won’t be able to help with. Its strategy, built around six service areas, has been enduringly constant for five years, and it again wins the award for North America’s best bank for SMEs.
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Bank of America is the undisputed leader in transaction services in North America. Long before the coronavirus crisis struck its home market, the bank had entered the Euromoney awards period with strong momentum. But by the end of that period it was being called upon to deploy all its leadership to help businesses across the US.
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How one US health-insurance plan looked after itself and the providers its policyholders rely on when routine treatment demand started to dry up.
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A quick reaction to warning signs in Asia meant Atlantic Natural Foods was better positioned than some to deal with Covid-19 – but it still needed flexibility from its bank
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Customers are starting to embrace digital forwarders that provide supply chain finance services as well as digitized freight forwarding.
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Goldman Sachs has launched its transaction services business in the US, trusting that its superior tech will be enough to beat the incumbents.
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Hedging may look expensive for businesses that have seen their revenues cut heavily by Covid-19 prevention measures, but removing hedges for currencies to which they have limited exposure may prove even more so.
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Experienced mobile money market participants have given a cautious welcome to Ethiopia’s plans to liberalize its telecommunications market, but warn that the emergence of new transaction providers is far from certain.
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Scarred by the lockdown, suppliers now want payment upfront while customers demand extended terms: a problem is brewing in B2B payments and receivables.
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Online trade finance provider Stenn has raised several hundred million dollars during the past month and reckons it is well placed to help close the funding gap for manufacturers in developing economies.
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A trend that was already under way is set to accelerate as companies realise the importance of better oversight of day-to-day financials.
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Fears that the Covid-19 virus might live on banknotes and coins has focused public attention on once esoteric experiments with central bank digital currency. The virus has also exposed the slow pace of emergency government support payments through the conventional banking system, so what once sounded futuristic may be coming soon. CBDC just got real.
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JPMorgan is in discussion with more global banks, corporates and third-party service providers to join its Interbank Information Network.
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Supply chain disruption will create new challenges for transaction bankers and may lead to long-term changes in global trade patterns.
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The digital bank struggled to make an impact in a fiercely competitive field.
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Leading firms in emerging Europe welcome a surge in interest in digital payments products and online lending.
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India's national ID and financial inclusion system creates the rails on which food and financial aid can reach some of the most vulnerable in society. But its rigidity in a crisis is a weakness.
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In this Euromoney Livestream hosted by Euromoney’s transaction services editor, corporate treasurers discuss the work they are doing to keep business running under lockdown and what their post-pandemic treasury plans could look like.
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Bank of America has seen mandates increase in the last month as digital solutions become increasingly important to overcome isolation and social-distancing rules.
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Financial technology is not being employed to its best effect, while the coronavirus financial relief effort is struggling. Banks need to innovate and work with fintechs if they are to ensure that the most vulnerable do not get left behind.
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Trade bodies, such as the Association of Independent Music, are taking it upon themselves to help the most affected in their industry during the coronavirus lockdown, turning to fintech solutions to do so.
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Machine learning powers new software that can help companies chase down overdue invoices and failed payments without driving customers away.
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Plugging gaps in fractured supply chains is central to maintaining trade and food security.
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Digital solutions embraced as corporates get used to remote working and as banks adjust to the new normal.
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The payments company has attracted a who’s who of investors – but as competition rises, its founder is now pushing for more, not less, regulatory oversight.
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Global cash managers are having to move fast and adapt solutions to support clients through the Covid-19 crisis.
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Relief for corporates reeling from the coronavirus will be the bank’s top focus for some time, says its global head of transaction banking.
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The head of UnionBank of the Philippines tells Euromoney that Covid-19 will spell the end of cash and boost the prospects of banks that offer customers the best digital banking services.
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Recruited to set up a national payments system, the central bank’s Olga Skorobogatova has overseen initiatives to protect consumers and promote competition in Russia’s banking sector. In her first interview with international media, she talks sandboxes, blockchain and the challenges of regulating bank ecosystems.
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The number of cashless transactions is rising as the coronavirus pandemic limits the use of physical cash.
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Corporate treasurers are doing everything they can to keep businesses running as smoothly as possible during these challenging times. How do their relationships with bank partners hold up in times of stress?
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Naveed Sultan, head of treasury and trade solutions at Citi, says the overall default risk from coronavirus will remain low and will be limited to the SME sector.
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The move to treasury and trade solutions is designed to bring cash management and trade businesses closer together.
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Euromoney's latest coverage of how Beijing is seeking to globalize the renminbi, through currency swaps and trade-financing facilities; the rise of the offshore bond market; and how fee-hungry banks are salivating at the prospect of the RMB’s growth.
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Geopolitical concerns are pushing corporates in Asia to work with European transaction banks.
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The leading banks in Euromoney’s Trade Finance Survey 2020 comment on the highlights of the last 12 months and their expectations for the year to come.
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Some organizations, drawn in by irresistible fees, can’t resist working with high-risk clients – but technology might offer a solution.
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The partnership will boost Alipay’s control of money flowing into China and increase its status abroad.
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Cryptocurrencies have a specific use-case in countries where local currencies are in crisis, but elsewhere they remain a volatile speculative investment and will struggle to take off as a means of payment.
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The premium price for its acquisition of Plaid shows Visa’s determination not to be left behind in the fintech-led transformation gathering pace across financial services.
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Voted for by more than 7000 treasury professionals, find out which banks rank top in the Euromoney Trade Finance Survey 2020.
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HSBC takes the top spot in Euromoney’s survey for the third year in a row.
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Will it be the banks that have built strong, steady relationships or those with big budgets that take transaction banking into the future?
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Swift hopes its know your customer (KYC) registry, now open to corporate partners, will succeed in ways in which others have failed, given the institution's not-for profit and cooperative position.
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Singapore-based trade finance portal CamelOne has put blockchain on the backburner to get to market more quickly.
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Cross-border instant payments gain traction, although the trend is not moving fast enough, say industry experts.
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Why does the tech behemoth want to provide current accounts for users? It’s the data, stupid.
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The German bank’s transaction banking franchise will be central to the success of its new corporate banking division.
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BayanPay, a digital payments company owned by London-listed Finablr, has received regulatory approval to operate its mobile money platform in Saudi Arabia, as the Kingdom looks to a future without cash.
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Corporates often perceive options as an expensive means of hedging FX risk compared with forwards, but a number of market developments have increased their attractiveness as a tool for reducing currency exposure.
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The ridesharing company’s foray into financial services is a questionable decision given the company’s dismal financial results.
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The political and regulatory backlash has driven leading payments companies out of the Libra association, but a new version of the revolutionary stablecoin may yet appear.
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Consolidation in payments is inevitable, but while some believe that only those with state-of-the-art technology – such as blockchain – will reign victorious, that’s not the case.
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Trade finance and cash management may have come under the spotlight in the last 10 years since the financial crash, but these are businesses that Euromoney has covered since launch, especially focusing on how technology has the potential to transform the sector.
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While transaction banking is one of the most innovative areas of finance, there is competition from big tech - and gaining market share is tough in a fragmented industry. How can banks stay on top?
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Driven by changes in technology and many new entrants to the business, transaction banking is no longer a boring, old, but stable revenue earner, chugging along in the background. Instead, trade finance and cash management are becoming an exciting and critical area of banking.
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With pan-European request to pay infrastructure unlikely to be in place until the second half of next year, a UK-Dutch fintech has pushed ahead with a solution that banks can implement now.
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The former treasurer at the Chinese multinational technology company says: 'Banks should be concerned.'
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The head of transaction banking at SEB says: 'Corporate clients ask us what we are doing to become a green bank.'
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The head of channels, analytics and innovation for treasury services and head of blockchain initiatives for corporate and investment banking at JPMorgan says: 'The boundaries between technological innovation and product development are blurring.'
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The bank's head of treasury and trade solutions, EMEA, says: 'In transaction banking, we see exponential growth.'
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The bank's global head of liquidity and cash management says: 'We need to stay on top of emerging trends.'
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The global head of transaction banking at StanChart says: 'We will see better results if we work together.'
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The bank's group head, global transaction banking says: 'We want to open up the transaction banking landscape.'
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The EMEA treasury director at CBRE says: 'Treasury can be truly transformed by introducing technology.'
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The bank's managing director of commercialisation and propositions for global transaction banking says: 'Why shouldn’t banking be just as simple as booking a hotel or ordering a taxi?'
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The bank's global head of core trade products says: 'Once you start digitizing trade finance, everything starts to move faster.'
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Euromoney's annual trade finance survey provides quantitative and qualitative analysis of the market and the banks that finance global trade. Results are published January 2020.
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The delay in the introduction of strong customer authentication under the second EU Payments Services Directive has not been universally welcomed, but it represents a valuable opportunity to make consumers more security-aware.
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Automation and artificial intelligence are transforming the payments industry into one of the most dynamic sectors of transaction banking. But there are still many teething problems in an industry that has been catapulted onto centre stage.
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Stories of corporate treasury innovating to mitigate external threats.
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A lack of regulation and standardization creates opportunities for businesses that can create a one-stop shop for all blockchain trade finance needs. So who is doing it?
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Cash flow at risk and earnings at risk can help ensure FX risks are reported correctly, but treasurers need to do more to convince senior management to move away from tried and trusted methods that are no longer fit for purpose.
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Blockchain has the potential to revolutionize trade finance, but a lack of standardization will hinder its adoption.
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Consolidation is due in the fintech payments sector as new specialized companies begin to build scale.
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For now, the world’s banks are nervously watching Facebook’s move into payments, but one day they may even come to depend on it for their funding.
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The FCA’s live market test facility has enabled a variety of capital markets-related fintech companies to test their business models and technologies in a controlled environment.
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A recent survey states 92% of financial decision-makers have admitted to paying their suppliers late, but there are tech solutions to some of these issues – and it's about time they were adopted.
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Benchmark reform may have received a lukewarm welcome from corporates, but treasurers would be well advised to quantify their Libor exposures to avoid nasty surprises during the transition to alternative overnight risk-free rates.
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Trade finance is gaining momentum as a securitized asset class – the resultant increased liquidity may offer corporates access to trade finance much more easily and quickly, especially as digital solutions streamline the process. Will SMEs, which have traditionally found it harder to access the market, be able to reap the benefits as well?
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There has been a distinct shift towards collaboration rather than competition as new distributed ledger technology platforms continue to emerge and more established platforms extend their reach.
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Retrenchment from peripheral markets has been a trend for the past 10 years – but banks are now rediscovering the benefit of geographical diversification in transaction banking.
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While all the conditions for increased corporate enthusiasm for foreign exchange hedging appear to be in place, uneven demand suggests lack of consensus on how best to manage currency volatility.
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Data security company Krypti claims the microtoken exchange security system used in its new digital wallet for storing bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies offers the most sophisticated protection against hackers on the market.
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B2B marketplaces reckon they can reduce risk for buyers and sellers without undermining the relationship between trading partners.
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Payments via smartphone or contactless credit card are indisputably convenient, but what is the price of going cashless? And what role does cold hard cash have in modern society?
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Humanitarian crises are emerging market issues and local banks are the best way to distribute aid. Banks should make it easier and cheaper to get funds to them.
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Cash will be around for a long time – but its role will change.
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Launched in January, Fuliza has already attracted more than four million customers, and Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom, hopes the product will reach all 21 million M-Pesa customers in Kenya.
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The bank confirms focus on transaction banking by strengthening ties with its investment banking unit through new appointments.
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New data collected by business intelligence provider Coalition show that in 2018 global transaction banking recorded the highest revenues since 2010 – and bankers believe this is largely down to the fact that investment in tech is finally paying off.
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The argument that India will be the first cashless society doesn’t take into account the country’s most vulnerable people and the cultural attachment to cash.
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JPMorgan announced that it will be the first American bank to launch its own digital currency, but what to other bankers think of it?
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Will Société Générale’s ambitions to become a transaction banking frontrunner be cut short without a unified vision?
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Accepting payments from customers in Russia is not always a straightforward process, although interest in the area is growing.
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Some digital finance firms are taking liberties with client data. If they aren’t careful, they will lose their core customers.
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Even though this business is notoriously sticky, Goldman Sachs’ entry into cash management business could shake up the industry.
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Its strong performance in Euromoney’s trade finance survey – despite its recent difficulties – has left some rivals scratching their heads. What lies behind its high placing?
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Digital innovation has the potential to transform international trade, yet many argue that banks are lagging in replacing antiquated systems for trade with smart solutions. What is behind the delays?
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R3 believes distributed ledger technology (DLT) could be the answer to overhaul the necessary infrastructure.
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A new strong customer authentication (SCA) regulation being introduced in September will change the payments landscape for online merchants amid a race for the most frictionless customer experience.
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Having tested HSBC FX Everywhere on internal payments, the bank now aims to provide it as a platform service to clients.
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From payments to full retail banking services, tech companies are encroaching on the banking space.
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Telcos allowed to provide limited services, helping financial inclusion in the country.
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This year, Euromoney's survey better highlights the ability of Asian banks to meet their clients’ needs.
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Aggressive accounting is as old as balance sheets, so why are we always surprised when inaccurate or bad-faith accounting causes companies to falter or even fail? Why is the dark side of accounting so hard to illuminate?
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After much talk and little action, the use of blockchain in trade finance is picking up, and Asia-Pacific is at the heart of that change – but despite progress, the many different consortia need to agree on some common ground to get things moving.
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In Africa, digital payments are still the future, not the present.
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CLSNet – a new payments netting service for FX trades – aims to reduce costs and increase liquidity for market participants.
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Technology companies are looking to create digital workers to help banks build leaner operations – but human workers have nothing to fear.
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Biometrics will help online retailers protect themselves from fraud – but maintaining customer experience at the same time may be a challenge.
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A new, unique end-to-end transaction reference is a big step forward in tracking cross-border payments, identifying hidden costs and improving payment speeds.
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Banks with large wholesale payments and cash management operations must innovate to avoid being ousted by disruptors.
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A new generation of digital products has slashed the cost of remittances and helped the unbanked meet short-term household or business liquidity needs, but there has been a downside.
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JPM wants to become the top transaction bank in the world – Takis Georgakopoulos, global head of treasury services, tells Euromoney how the bank will do it.
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Forget raising money by selling your crypto tokens, just give them away to as many potential users as possible and raise value through network effects is the new thinking from crypto-land.
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Banks and traders tout efficiency and the trust benefits of a new fintech platform, but key absentees mitigate the hoped-for 'network effect'.
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Eight banks have gone live with the Voltron initiative, an open platform for documentary trade.
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Seven firms launch trade finance platform to improve efficiency and services, especially for SMEs.
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With 75 banks signed up in late September, IIN is already approaching 100 banks convinced that blockchain is the best, safest and quickest way to resolve blocked cross-border payments.
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As financial fraud in the UK evolves, so too does the financial industry, stepping up its efforts to tackle the issue with new technologies, such as biometrics and artificial intelligence.
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Recommits to holding top spot; mid-tier of most concern as oil traders struggle.
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There are only two truly global, fully fledged cash management banks today, but the digital arms race in transaction services gives far more banks the opportunity to be world class.
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The world of cross-border payments in undergoing a digital transformation, which is set to eradicate long delays, friction and high transaction costs.
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Cards continue to grow their share of the payments market in the UK, but regulators must step in to protect merchants from hidden fee increases, says consumer group
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Following a recent warning from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that banks were facing the possibility of an imminent global cyberattack targeting ATMs, banks are being urged to review the operating systems used to run the machines and the security measures in place to detect and prevent cybercrime.
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Without a robust mechanism for handling chargebacks, merchants will continue to face sizeable losses from both misguided and malicious fraudulent claims.
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Regulatory pressures are beginning to force firms to innovate as tech developments make it ever easier for companies to keep digital records of various transactions – and providers are taking advantage.
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With appreciation of the merits of dynamic discounting continuing to grow, attention has turned to the extent to which banks are committed to supporting this growth and how to maximize the value of the data generated.
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Industry experts observe that while the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) represents an opportunity for corporate treasury to take advantage of real-time payment processing, it will take some time for the full benefits to be realised.
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Regulatory change, cost pressures, advances in technology and more-demanding customers: treasurers have a lot on their minds, but artificial intelligence (AI) is here to help.
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Just seven months after the launch of the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), efforts made by many mainstream banks are stopping short of bringing about the ground-breaking changes many had expected.
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Banks say virtual accounts can improve corporate cash management, giving a much clearer view of company accounts and helping treasury play a more strategic role within organisations. But corporate treasurers themselves may be confused about the benefits they offer, and may also have more important matters on their minds.
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The UK Treasury’s inquiry into economic crime has identified fragmentation and inconsistency within the current anti-money laundering (AML) regime, while the high volume of suspicious activity reports is proving overwhelming for the regulators. But new technologies could be the light at the end of the tunnel.
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Banks were once sceptical about blockchain technology, but now – having recognised it as an existential threat to their businesses – they are leading the way in its development and implementation.
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DBS, under CEO Piyush Gupta, is not the biggest name in transaction services in Asia, but it is the one that impresses most in its trajectory.
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Those behind blockchain-based trade finance platform we.trade, which completed its first round of transactions this month, have acknowledged that banks will have to support multiple platforms to offer a rounded digital trade service.
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What is striking about BBVA’s operations in Latin America is how the bank is willing adapt to regional demands. At a time when its Spanish operations are grappling with the arrival of open banking and real-time payments, the bank knows that having staff on the ground in Latin America is the main concern of its customers.
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Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s operations in western Europe over the last year have seen the bank develop its own structure to keep pace in a market that is both exciting and volatile, making it western Europe’s best bank for transaction services.
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Central and eastern Europe has found itself at the cutting edge of technology development, and Citi has shown itself to be an innovator in supporting its clients during this exciting time. For that reason, it is the region’s best bank for transaction services.
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As treasurers see changes across the digital and regulatory landscape, they are also grappling with the arrival of new legislation. So having a strong footprint in multiple markets can be invaluable for a bank when clients are coming for advice. Those who are customers with HSBC, North America’s best bank for transaction services, are seeing the advantages.
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Africa has seen a seismic shift in its transaction banking operations in recent years. With many international banks retrenching, those who remain are bedding in and extending their reach across the continent.
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Technology is rapidly transforming the payments landscape for corporates and retail customers alike, and the systems that gain traction tend to be those that give consumers better visibility of their money – or make their lives easier in other ways.
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Private equity house takes stake in UK payments processor
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As treasurers and banks grapple with the arrival of real-time payments and open banking, tech companies are looking at the next phase of payment developments.
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The rise of fintechs is global, but they are at risk of isolation through regulation. Two firms want to stop that before it happens.
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Higher merchant fees are creating issues for corporate treasurers, who are concerned with the lack of alternatives in the market.
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Banks face a payments dilemma of either collaborating with fintechs or developing systems in-house, and the same issue is now arising in the approach to regulation and the best way to digitize compliance.
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With six months to go before money market reforms are imposed on all funds in Europe, treasurers hoping to earn a return on their cash are scoping out the best options available.
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While most countries have adopted e-wallets and mobile banking as a result of technological innovation and evolution, Zimbabwe was forced into it because of a financial crisis.
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The multiple access points for payments platforms in the UK have been brought together under one new operator
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The challenges of regulatory compliance and cyber protection are making financial institutions think more creatively. Machine learning and greater data sharing might be the future of digital banking security.
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Two corporate treasurers at the Swift Business Forum London 2018, taking part in ‘The future of cross-border payments – a corporate’s view’ panel, air their experiences of working with the banks and how their expectations around fintech collaboration are yet to be reached.
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Bank of America Merrill Lynch has taken bits of products it already offers to make a new solution that could make life easier – and cheaper – for treasurers.
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China appears to be opening up to the idea of a wider range of payments options. Before overseas companies look to dive in, they need to make sure they are keeping on the right side of the regulator.
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Banking technology and regulation are moving to create a real-time, cross-border environment. While this is possible in theory, dated and cumbersome back-office systems risk slowing the digital revolution, and leaving some institutions behind.
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The threatened imposition of US-China trade tariffs this week is the most obvious sign of increasing protectionism, resulting in a push towards regional trade, but with consumers prioritizing speedy delivery, the move to source locally has other drivers.
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Trade finance has emerged as an asset class with appeal for institutional buyers, but needs to have some issues ironed out before it becomes palatable to a broad investor base.
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Seven years ago, the country had virtually no formal banking sector. Now, its clunkier commercial lenders face extinction thanks to the arrival of exciting new mobile money services whose mission is to march onwards and upwards.
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Kamal Quadir has transformed financial services for the poor in Bangladesh with bKash. The mobile payments system is shaping up to be a great success story. Here’s how a child of independence put it together.
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China is going cashless and cardless fast, with hundreds of millions of wealthy consumers leaping ahead to mobile wallets and providing some valuable insights for the possible future of open banking in Europe.
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Technology has enabled the movement of funds in secure environments. The speed of transactions has also dramatically increased, reducing down to just a few seconds in some countries and currencies as APIs and real-time systems arrive. But are instant payments always necessary? Is improving the speed and automation of your treasury systems a key part of your strategy? Please complete our short survey to share your views.
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Although it has been an option for several years, the cloud is finally having its moment. While trust in the providers and the level of security is a catalyst, so is the arrival of PSD2.
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Three transport groups push into financial services; financial inclusion intended as a profitable mainstay.
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Banks are working increasingly closely with large software and fintech companies to improve internal efficiency, but there is still progress to be made in understanding what both parties can gain.
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Transaction automation and open banking can help banks to strengthen customer relationships, especially as fintechs are encroaching on their traditional services – but the sector has been slow to adapt.
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AsiamoneyCorporate treasurers are looking afresh at their liquidity management strategies as rising rates make margins and the use of cash increasingly important. Advances in big data and automation mean banks are ready to help them.
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Have banks finally learned not to hold their customers in contempt?
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Most new challengers are attacking retail, but a few ingenious startups are moving into the more fragmented and poorly served small business market. It is here that concepts of open banking and banking as a platform may first become real.
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Treasurers are naturally cautious investors, but in a time of low returns they are being pushed towards riskier opportunities.
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Efforts to improve the speed of payments being made to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has not seen success, so technology might be used to fill the gap.
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In the month since the deadline of the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), there has been little obvious change in how banks are allowing companies and consumers access to their customer accounts. This does not mean all banks have been standing still.
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Technology may be creeping into every aspect of banking and corporate treasury, but there seems to be a low appetite for working with fintechs and more demand for a focus on traditional banking relationships and business understanding.
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As correspondent banking becomes fraught with issues, but remains a central aspect of business, the industry is seeing an overhaul of its guidelines to ensure high standards of due diligence while still allowing business to flow.
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Most companies using Swift have met the deadline for attesting to the customer security controls framework (CSCF), paving the way for stronger security and control in payments messaging.
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A bad year as the bank continued to rejig its client base, but management predicts GTB revenues will improve from the second quarter.
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Concerns over rising protectionism reducing the trade in goods might be offset by the growing trend for trade in services.
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The search for alternative payments methods is picking up steam as lower-cost options become more accessible.
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Corporates are now refocusing their efforts on internal fraud as well as external threats of cybercrime, following some high-profile cases.
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The results of the Euromoney Trade Finance Survey 2018 show the emergence of two very different trends: the sustained presence of the global trade finance bank, and the rising influence of regional institutions.
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The impediments to providing more trade finance to emerging-market clients are well known, but that does not make them any easier to overcome. Could the ultimate solution be in turning trade finance into an attractive asset class for institutional investors?
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Changes to the US corporate tax code are aimed at driving more onshore investment. For treasurers, this will mean reassessing their current global cash management structures.
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The Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) aims to make cash transfers between European countries fast, cheap and simple – but the migration process has proved slow, expensive and complex.
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The Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT) has heralded a decision to include one of its members in a working group looking at the replacement for Libor.
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Although banks like talking about bringing digital services to trade finance, a surprisingly low proportion of the 7,000-plus participants in Euromoney’s annual trade finance survey are actually using the technology.
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AsiamoneyAs part of our global cash management survey of 30,000 treasurers, we asked those with operations in Asia a simple question: how satisfied are you with your banks? The answers have been compiled, tabulated and dissected. They make for interesting reading.
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The complexity of ERP and remote systems could leave treasurers exposed to FX risks. As automated systems look to fill this gap, there are still benefits from having a wide understanding of the whole business.
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India receives global attention for its digital innovation as a tool of financial inclusion, but it couldn’t get off the ground without a unique non-profit institution charged with creating the infrastructure.
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Without fanfare, BNP Paribas is building its network among UK corporate clients. It’s following a template that’s already paying dividends in Germany. Is it on track to be Europe’s pre-eminent bank?
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Financial providers are pushing to identify new higher-margin services, while remaining relevant to corporate partners and boosting profitability in a disruptive digital age. Meanwhile, across the Middle East economies, governments want to diversify away from oil and gas, creating opportunities for multinationals, regional banks and export credit agencies.
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The final recommendations for the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) have outlined a series of strict rules that would improve security, and have the potential to push for greater innovation.
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Domestic real-time payments are spreading as more countries adopt the technology, but the move to international, cross-currency payments is still some time off.
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It has been two years since the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was announced, but there are still companies unaware of how wide-ranging the changes they need to make are and how little time they have left to make them.
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Regulations intended to make the correspondent banking network safer have stifled the ability to operate, say bankers. Yet the need for the service continues and requires new ways of thinking.
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Clients are asking banks now how they will continue to operate their cash-management facilities after the UK leaves the EU, regardless of the outcome of negotiations.
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The level of understanding around the implementation of Payment Services Directive II (PSD2) is lacking for both corporates and consumer alike, although they are the parties that are meant to benefit.
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Treasurers are exploring the investment options open to them in the face of continued low interest rates and money market reforms.
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Asia’s disparate markets and economies have found common ground in the widespread adoption of digital technology. Starting with consumer clients, expectations are rising up the banking chain and banks need to keep pace.
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At first glance Euromoney’s global cash management survey 2017 results suggest that it is business as usual, but digging a little deeper into the rankings reveals that some regionals are setting new standards in quality of service.
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A focus on clients with a strong connection to Switzerland allows the bank to forge particularly close relationships and deliver a quality service.
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The bank has come a long way in the GTS business in a short time – it took the top spot in Japan last year, and the last 12 months have been about establishing itself in the rest of Asia.
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The firm has invested heavily in its GTS offering in recent years – this year’s rankings see it rise on a tide of high customer satisfaction with its suite of new products.
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BNP Paribas, PwC, SAP and the European Association of Corporate Treasurers (EACT) released the second edition of their thought leadership initiative, the Journeys To Treasury (JTT) report at EuroFinance Barcelona on the 4th of October 2017. The first edition of the report, released at EuroFinance Vienna in 2016 made a lasting impression on the corporate treasury community, with more than 1000 downloads across the world and more than 24,000 visits to the report’s website within the first three months of its launch. The 2017 edition of the report has taken the narrative further and discusses some of the most important issues and trends affecting the corporate treasury.
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Corporate treasurers are putting forward the case for using blockchain in their daily operations, weighing the benefits and potential drawbacks.
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Supply chain finance management is more than just about extending favourable payment terms – corporates now need their banks to be involved all along the chain to keep their suppliers operating.
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Traditional supply flows are being overhauled by the introduction of real-time payment mechanisms.
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Trade finance has long been in need of a move way from paper documentation. With a number of digital solutions based around distributed ledger technology (DLT) in development the foundations look to be in place.
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The automation of sophisticated treasury methods by assessing data flows is enabling expanding companies to reduce the uncertainty around cash flows and FX rates.
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For years, much of the hype in payments has been around mobile payments and blockchain technology. But the innovation that has done the most to change British shopping habits has been contactless cards, which launched in 2007 but have really come of age in recent years.
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A sharp decline in renminbi-denominated letters of credit and deposits in offshore centres have seen its standing as an international payments currency decline since 2016.
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Since the announcement of Worldpay’s merger with Vantiv there has been a glut of bids for payments companies, coming from in-market competitors, credit card companies looking to enter the sector and private equity firms.
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Swift’s global payments innovation (gpi) has received a strong endorsement from multinational Swiss corporates, which have called for greater take up by the banks to solve many of their cash management issues.
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Recently emerged challenger banks are taking advantage of new regulations to team up with multiple third-party payment service providers (TPPs) to gain a slice of the customer’s business they would otherwise not have access to.
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From cloud technology to cashless payments, digital currencies to P2P networks, mobile banking to FX robots… financial institutions worldwide are looking to lead technological advances while also trying to keep up with them. And as well as the cost of innovation, many organizations are finding much of their technology budgets focused on dealing with regulatory burdens. Access some of Euromoney's recent coverage here.
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Citi continues to fire on all cylinders across cash management, trade finance and securities services. It combines scale and market penetration with innovation, and the sense of drive among senior staff in the region is palpable – making it our best bank for transaction services in Asia.