Asia-Pacific treasury management priorities.

• Position: TREASURY

Results of a recent survey of treasurers in Asia-Pacific in the rapidly-evolving treasury management industry reveal five key priorities over the next 12 to 24 months. Among the opinions expressed in the Asia Pacific Treasury Management Barometer survey, conducted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Transaction Services (GTS) and SunGard, a software and technology services provider:

1. Improving cash visibility. The most common priority regionally; more than 60 percent of treasurers and treasury professionals identified this objective as a primary area of focus.

2. Yield enhancement. Combined with a focus on minimizing interest expenses, yield enhancement was cited by more than 44 percent of respondents as a major treasury priority.

3. Cash concentration. Approximately 44 percent will devote more attention to cash concentration, most frequently in the middle market.

4. Rationalizing bank accounts. Thirty-eight percent identify rationalization of bank accounts as a key priority, particularly in corporations in the highest revenue bracket.

5. Mitigating counterparty risk. Thirty-one percent of respondents will focus more efforts on enhanced risk mitigation structures.

Cash flow forecasting, a modeling method used by corporations to determine future financial liquidity, was identified by treasurers as a specific pain point of operating in the Asia-Pacific region. Only 14 percent indicate complete satisfaction with their cash flow forecasting processes; 66 percent say that they don't utilize treasury tools for cash flow forecasting.

The survey results demonstrate that unsatisfactory cash flow forecasting processes are largely due to complications arising from internal platforms, policies and procedures rather than the solution suites currently provided by banks and technology vendors.

The top five factors inhibiting...