Bank of America awarded Best US Dollar Clearing Bank in Asia Pacific for 2019 at The Asian Banker Business Achievement Awards 2019

•         FX and regulatory challenges for a large manufacturer of plumbing products

  ·         Digitizing FX and compliance documentation

  ·         An innovative approach for multinational treasuries 

Bangkok, May 30^th 2019- Bank of America received the award for Best US Dollar Clearing Bank in Asia Pacific for 2019 at The Asian Banker Business Achievement Awards 2019. The award ceremony was held in conjunction with the prestigious Future of Finance Summit 2019, the foremost annual meeting for decision makers in the financial services industry in the Asia Pacific region, held at the Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand.

FX and regulatory challenges for a large manufacturer of plumbing products

With operations around the world and a strong presence in Asia, foreign exchange (FX) has always been an important part of treasury operation for a large manufacturer of plumbing products, the client of the bank. For the treasury function of the client in each country, that meant a staff member manually filling in forms and then taking up to half a day to deliver the required paperwork to the nearest bank branch. On a monthly basis, that often added up to two or three days of treasury time wasted by simply transporting documents, given the stringent regulatory requirements pertaining to FX. Hence, there was a need to review and approve documentation to ensure compliance and its treasury in each country was looking to find a better, more efficient, way of cutting manual efforts as well as digitize the entire paper process.

Digitizing FX and compliance documentation

The bank worked with the client to digitize the entire workflow as well as the FX compliance documentation. Through its Global Cross Currency Product (GCCP) suite, the bank offers a flexible dashboard of “tools and levers” including Guaranteed FX Rates, Cross Currency ACH, Cross Currency Cash Concentration and Multicurrency Netting.to help clients effectively manage their global payment flows and short-term transactional FX.

An innovative approach for multinational treasuries

The move to digitize FX compliance documentation demonstrates an innovative approach to an issue that faces every multinational treasury: how to comply with regulatory requirements in a way that doesn’t tie up scarce resources that could be used more productively elsewhere. Efficiency was enhanced as the process that could previously take half a day or more can now be done in a few minutes. In India, the client estimates that 15-16 hours per month have been saved while in China, the time saved was even greater. It reduced cost as the China treasury team previously had two full-time employees devoted to this task - now it has one. Similar time savings have been achieved in India. Risk is mitigated as online submission of key documents ensures easy checking and rechecking, and if any errors are seen, they can be rectified and a replacement document uploaded in seconds.

This award is based on a survey of domestic financial institutions on the clearing service providers they use on the national and international fronts. We also take into account white labelled products and services used by the domestic financial institutions from these providers. This award takes into account changes in market share of the different competitors in the region and the range and unique features of products and services provided. For specific details relating to description of the awards, evaluation criteria and process, kindly visit http://www.asianbankerawards.com/transactionawards/index.php

About The Asian Banker

The Asian Banker is the region’s most authoritative provider of strategic business intelligence to the financial services community. The company is headquartered in Singapore, with offices in Manila, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Dubai, as well as representatives in London, New York, and San Francisco. It has a business model that revolves around three core business lines: publications, research services, and forums.

For all Business Achievement Awards 2019 photos, please visit https://bit.ly/2WcifTO

For further information on the collaterals for winning banks, please contact:

Mr. Alfred Labicassi

The Asian Banker

Email: alabicassi@theasianbanker.com