Global opportunities and challenges

Like just about every day in the life of a corporate treasurer, this edition of TreasuryPulse is focused on opportunities and challenges. We look at the opportunities and challenges presented by two emerging markets in particular, plus we highlight the tools companies need to address a major regulatory deadline.

We start by reviewing "Emerging Opportunities in Asia." There are many growth opportunities in this region, says Kaushik Shaparia, Regional Head of Trade Finance and Cash Management for Corporates, Asia Pacific. In his article published in Treasury Management International (TMI), Shaparia points to robust economic activity in China, India and the ASEAN countries, and how supplier finance and accounts receivable programmes are helping treasurers seize growing opportunities in Asia.

The internationalisation of the Renminbi is also creating opportunities in Asia, report Carl Wegner, Greater China Head, and Joe M.K. Ng, the Bank's Head of Renminbi Payments Product Management – Asia Pacific. In EuroTreasurer, they explain how ongoing policy changes are enabling European companies to reduce costs when trading with China by using Renminbi for cross-border trade settlement.

In "Engine of Growth" we learn that the Middle East has also become a hotspot for international trade and infrastructure investment. Syed-Kamran Zaidi, Head of Trade Finance and Cash Management Corporates in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), explains in The Treasurer that joint venture partnerships are the norm for foreign entities looking to establish a Middle East presence. Companies are leaning on automated treasury management systems to support cash management in the region, he adds.

The end date for domestic payment instruments in euro is fast approaching, and another story discusses how the necessary conversion to XML formats is providing value beyond compliance with Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) requirements. For instance, in his article in TMI, Dieter Stynen, Head of Cash Management Corporates, Western Europe, counsels that the SEPA migration provides an opportunity to implement SWIFT connectivity.