JP Morgan's treasury services business, a full-service provider of cash management, trade finance and treasury solutions, will continue the enhancement and expansion of its service capabilities in the Asia Pacific region.
As part of its three-year US$1bn global investment plan announced last year, JP Morgan is enhancing its cash management and treasury liquidity capabilities, expanding its regional footprint and reinvesting in its technology solutions.
According to the bank, the expansion of its capabilities and services in the region will enable clients to become more efficient across different currencies and across their own global footprint. These expansion plans reflect JP Morgan's ongoing commitment to corporations and financial institutions operating in markets across the globe, as well as the bank's mission to continue bringing global payment capabilities and expertise to clients locally.
“As a global company with scale, financial backing, deep industry knowledge and international perspective, JP Morgan delivers benefits to clients wherever they are in the world with the same level of service and support,” says Simon Jones, regional treasury services executive – Asia Pacific at JP Morgan. “We are committed to growing our business in Asia Pacific and will continue to expand our footprint and enhance domestic capabilities to fortify our position as a leading treasury management solutions provider in Asia Pacific.”
"JP Morgan’s goal in the region is to take a complex multi-currency, multi-regulated environment and make it easier, cheaper and faster for our clients to conduct cash management activities," says Melissa Moore, CEO of JP Morgan's treasury services business. "Despite a continued difficult economic environment, JP Morgan will continue to invest in global and local capabilities that will enable clients to operate more efficiently worldwide."
JP Morgan continues to expand its geographic footprint as it builds out its branch capabilities across the Asia Pacific region. With presence already in 15 countries, the bank recently opened two new branches in Guangzhou and Chengdu, China, while additional locations are planned in 2010 for China and South Asia.
In terms of new solutions, the bank continues the enhancement and expansion of its treasury services capabilities in the Asia Pacific region. Highlights of recent and planned investments include:
• The launch of regional clearing, foreign exchange, liquidity, payables and receivables platforms to unify delivery, information and channel access services.
• The launch of a standard billing platform across all Asia Pacific branches for better billing management and reporting.
• JP Morgan has enhanced its domestic cash management and trade finance service offering in India and has recently launched its liquidity concentration and enhanced domestic cash management capabilities in South Korea. Additional expansion in the region is planned for 2010.
• JP Morgan is launching escrow services in Australia and Singapore. JP Morgan’s customised end-to-end escrow services help customers better manage financial risk associated with a range of business transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, and import and export payments. In Asia Pacific, JP Morgan already offers escrow services in China, Hong Kong and India.
• JP Morgan has enhanced its US dollar clearing – Asia direct solution to further assist clients seeking the fastest and most efficient means of making US dollar payments to banks in Asia. As part of the enhancements, clients now have direct access to a larger number of banks. The solution enables clients to keep liquidity in the region, clear in multiple regional infrastructures, consolidate cash balances and benefit from same-day finality.
• JP Morgan is also investing in a fully integrated liquidity platform that will provide web capabilities to clients for greater transparency into their cash and investment balances. Clients will be empowered to manage their cash concentration structures, time deposit investments, and enhance operating efficiency through a more streamlined process. The platform – designed to help clients optimise their global liquidity and investment requirements – will be launched first in Asia Pacific locations as the region is a key area of focus for the firm.
• JP Morgan has introduced its receivables edge solution in Asia Pacific. This web-based accounts receivable management application enables clients to better manage their receivables and collections processes through greatly improved transparency and a workflow tool to manage and improve the exception process.
• JP Morgan has enhanced its Tokyo dollar clearing system with Swift MT-103 message formatting, providing clients with faster, more secure cross-border credit transfers.
• The company has launched its freight payment and auditing capabilities in Asia to help clients achieve lower freight costs, greater control of global transport operations, and more actionable insight into supply chain sourcing and shipping decisions.
• JP Morgan has joined the World Bank and its funding partners to launch a US$1bn funding facility as part of the global trade liquidity programme (GTLP). The agreement is designed to stimulate trade growth by extending funded trade financing to JP Morgan’s client banks in emerging markets.
• J.P. Morgan has recently introduced its unitised time deposit programme in India, an investment solution that automatically sweeps clients’ non-interest bearing Indian rupee (INR) operating account balances into time deposits, enabling clients to maximise yield on short-term cash holdings. The programme enables clients to manage unpredictable daily cash flows more efficiently.
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