Sector - Cash Management

Pull it together

Centralising cash management systems can save global companies time and money. But doing it isn’t easy. Liz Salecka reports.

Out with the old

An initiative to upgrade and integrate West Africa’s intra-bank payment systems is gathering pace, with the Central Bank of Nigeria inviting tenders for a new real time gross settlement (RTGS) system to replace its existing set-up. 

Converging cash and trade

The movement to bring together cash management and trade finance capabilities is gaining momentum. For banks it’s a means of improving client relationships. For corporates, it holds the promise of greater control over working capital. emeafinance brought together heads of trade finance and transaction banking from leading institutions to discuss how the cash and trade concept is being applied.

Bridging the gap

Cross-border investment activity is fuelling the need for securities services across the EMEA region to meet challenges posed by varied regulation and tax regimes as well as weaker market infrastructure. By Liz Salecka.

Steering towards deeper liquidity

The financial crisis has led many corporates to prioritise internal liquidity management in the face of more expensive and less readily available bank credit, writes Liz Salecka.

HSBC appoints new head of commercial banking in ME

HSBC Bank Middle East has appointed Simon Johnson as regional head of commercial banking. In this role, Johnson will oversee all commercial banking business across the Middle East region.

Banks to increase spending on cash management IT

Banks seeking to improve the end user online cash management (CM) experience for corporate clients will spearhead 7.1% growth in IT spending on CM solutions in 2009-10, with total IT spending reaching US$904mn in December this year, according to the consultant Celent.

BNYM expands treasury services in EMEA

The Bank of New York Mellon (BNYM) has further strengthened its treasury services operations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), with new appointments in Brussels, Frankfurt, Cairo and London.

Failed payments cost European banks €21bn a year

Failed international payments are costing Europe’s banks €21bn a year, despite the promise of SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) to simplify transactions and cut costs, according to banking solutions provider Misys.

ECB in face-off with Euroclear over T2-S

The European Central Bank is in a face-off with Euroclear, the largest central securities depository (CSD) in Europe, over the ECB’s plans to introduce its own centralised securities depository, TARGET 2-Securities (T2-S).

Dealing with the headache of post-acquisition IT integration

The proliferation of legacy systems at CEE banks has proved a major challenge for many western banks that have made acquisitions in the region. But there are a number of different strategies that they can pursue to ensure IT savings, the exploitation of synergies, and a more efficient IT infrastructure, writes Liz Salecka.

Western banks acquiring banks in CEE have often  found  IT integration difficult for a number of reasons  – not least because, as in most acquisitions, the immediate focus is put on commercial and operational issues, which fail to consider IT or systems integration challenges.