January 18, 2012
Asia Treasury Challenges
The NeuGroup Launches Treasury Peer Group in Asia
The pilot meeting of the Asia Treasurers’ Peer Group, sponsored by BNP Paribas, brought together thirteen companies across a variety of industries—pharma, consumer goods, manufacturing and tech. Topics discussed included:
1) Offshore RMB Market and Opportunities. One member discussed his company’s dim sum bond issue.
Key Takeaway: The process of issuing offshore bonds is becoming more streamlined; banks can help clear hurdles for use-of-proceeds onshore as well as the transfer of funds.
2) Capital and Liquidity Management. A discussion of member companies’ approaches and a market overview by the BNP’s C.G. Lai.
Key Takeaway: As cash builds up in the region, a concern is the lack of available investment options. MMFs are developing but the small sizes mean MNCs run up against policy limits.
3) Dealing with Asia’s Rules and Regs. Two reps from Clifford Chance shared their insights on India and China.
Key Takeaway: Both countries have a multitude of governing bodies with sometimes overlapping jurisdictions. It’s important to understand their motivations and their powers.
4) Implementing eBAM in Asia. Jan Dewaele from SWIFT and Pole Yu from IT2 talked about the status of SWIFT-enabled solutions for eBAM.
Key Takeaway: Paperless account management (including for the account-opening process) is still a ways away, but some progress is being made.
Sponsored by: