Understanding the regulatory, legal and tax implications key to this liquidity solution across META region

The challenge

The GE Treasury Cash & Banking Operations team for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) was looking to improve cash management and forecasting in the region aligned to the company’s strategic priorities. The META region comes with its own set of evolving regulatory and product-related challenges which need to be navigated, while ensuring efficiency and regulatory compliance for each country.

The solution

The concept and products for cash pooling/cash concentration has been around for a while and various corporates/banks have been putting them to good use to drive efficiency. However, the size and scope of GE has always led to a need for customisation of the solution. The focus became around setting up an infrastructure that was flexible at the country level, while also linked to the global liquidity structures.

“The most important aspect is Defining the Problem and breaking it up into smaller parts because it is only after this that one can progress on the path of finding a solution.” explains Manish Joshi, Director, Regional Cash & Banking Operations (META).

The team embraced the principles of Lean and worked toward automated management leading to optimisation of cash at a country level. With an in-depth analysis of the challenges and potential solutions at hand, the team worked in close partnership with internal stakeholders, as well as their banking partners to implement multiple liquidity structures across various currencies. This has led to increased efficiency, simplification, and improved forecasting.

Using its banking partner’s online banking platform, the team was able to view and gain regionwide visibility into funds from a single point of access. A liquidity management portal with a user-friendly dashboard also helped the team understand and manage cash positions across the region for more accurate cash flow forecasting.

Best practice and innovation

What makes this unique is not the solution itself, but the intricacies in putting it place for a large organisation in a region that has many complexities. The work of the team has been instrumental in helping to ensure that GE’s businesses were invested in key industries and strategic markets.

Key benefits

• Optimise country level working capital needs.
• Helped to improve leverage ratios and reduce corporate short-term debt.
• Increase visibility through an industry-leading liquidity management portal.

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