The challenge
In mid-2018, GE established a regional treasury centre (RTC) in Singapore to centralise cash, leveraging digital opportunities, and to optimise its operations in the Asia Pacific region.
After implementing a cash consolidation structure for certain markets in the region, the next challenge was to consolidate currencies without any manual intervention in a cost-efficient method. Taking into account both internal and external complexities, the team needed to identify the key problem areas, bridging the gap between the needs of the organisation and pragmatic solutions.
The solution
GE worked with Citi to create a robust multi-currency notional pool structure to place on top of the RTC in Singapore. This has significantly reduced manual work and leverages digital solutions to meet short-term demands.
The solution has been key in dealing with the strain that COVID-19 has put on working capital management across the industry. This structure is now the primary tool that has managed incremental Asia liquidity overall at a regional treasury level. This centralisation of liquidity structure has helped to get real-time data visibility for treasury that is needed for quick decision-making and to execute the necessary action required.
Best practice and innovation
GE created a core cross-functional team, including treasury professionals and banking partners, to share ideas and work together to create a long-term sustainable liquidity structure across the Asian markets. This required both partners to agree on the roadmap of this journey with milestones that included identification of solutions and related nuances of each of these markets, taking a consolidated view, and tracking the progress of project until its completion.
Key benefits
- Cash, administrative, and funding efficiencies.
- Platform for the next level of Treasury transformation.
- Leveraging technology for better forecasting.
“GE continues to transform and be agile in its operational needs. Treasury is continuously looking for tools to build for the future. The RTC is now actively looking to evaluate and leverage solutions to optimise payments and collections so that we can reap further benefits of technology advancements in the treasury space,” says Manu Taneja, Executive – GE APAC Treasury.
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