The challenge:

As part of this process and its existing operations in Asia, Blackstone revisited its banking requirements to help the company centralise cash management and FX execution in the region. The company therefore required a banking solution that would cover both its full-scale treasury requirements, including but not limited to cash management and FX execution, in Asia. In addition the bank would also need to meet the company’s deal funding timelines to be an effective partner.

“We required a bank relationship that would allow for the new solution to be implemented quickly and effectively. We also required a bank that put client servicing front and centre with a single point of contact and minimal documentation requests,” says Vinodh Krishnamoorthy, Asia Pacific Treasurer at Blackstone.

The solution:

To meet this challenge, Blackstone began discussions with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in 2012, a bank that it already had a strong relationship with in the US. “During the discussions we discovered that the bank was able to find a way to meet all our needs,” says Krishnamoorthy. “The timeline for opening bank accounts is the best in the region, while the pricing and execution is excellent on the FX side.”

On the cash management side, the bank provided everything from payment processing to bank account maintenance, using standard SWIFT formats to provide straight through processing (STP). The bank also provided FX services including FX spots as well as longer-dated derivative forwards and swaps.

In order to support the company’s requirements for an efficiently managed relationship, Bank of America Merrill Lynch provided a dedicated client service director and implementation advisor. This relationship is further strengthened with the support of a dedicated Regional Treasury Coverage Officer based in Singapore and a Corporate Banker.

The implementation process was supported by transparent communication between the two teams: both the bank and the company responded quickly to each other’s requests for documentation in order to keep momentum throughout the project.

Best practice and innovation:

Blackstone demonstrated best practice in obtaining full benefit from a bank relationship, not only by ensuring that all its requirements were met, but also by leveraging its knowledge base. “We lean on our relationship banks to provide us with knowledge on a wide range of topics,” says Krishnamoorthy. “We also look to the bank for best-in-class solutions for any problems that we may have navigating Asia. Every single country in the region is different in terms of its tax and regulatory requirements, so we regard the bank as a business partner and seek advice.”

“This is a very broad-reaching relationship: all our senior stakeholders talk to each other in New York and there is great coordination across regions. Also the bank has a wide range of capabilities with different parts of it talking to each other. The bank put forward a very aggressive timeline, and we held them to that. With a lot of banks, the sales pitches do not always translate to actual implementation – but Bank of America Merrill Lynch stuck by its implementation scheme and delivered on each of its promises,” concludes Krishnamoorthy.