Home to the second and third largest economies in the world, North Asia is a highly competitive yet rewarding market. For many businesses in the region, events of the past year from China’s dynamic zero-Covid approach to rising geopolitical tensions have created a culture of operational resilience and awareness in supporting partners along supply chains.

These developments present invaluable opportunities for banks active in the region to showcase their credentials and craft solutions to not only help businesses but also foster best practices in areas such as cash management and trade finance.

In mainland China, for example, despite the ongoing difficulties in battling fresh Covid outbreaks, CFOs and treasurers have sought various ways to further improve their financial processes with a number of multinational and large domestic corporates establishing pan-China cash pools or cross-border renminbi schemes to ensure their subsidiaries have sufficient liquidity.

No stranger to the use of technology to improve financial processes, companies active in China leverage data analytics and set up digital platforms to support deep-tier supply chain finance programmes, with anchor buyers supporting not only their main suppliers with their credit profile but also their secondary suppliers.

Over the review period, The Asset’s board of editors spoke with a broad array of banks who presented their supplier finance arrangements that could be apportioned to other suppliers within the ecosystem. In a similar fashion, e-commerce platforms have started partnering with banks offering instant financial services to merchants in need of working capital.

A number of mainland Chinese companies have also pursued their go-global ambitions by using Hong Kong as a conduit to access international markets for offshore financing. More Chinese state-owned enterprises, alongside their banking partners, have set up corporate treasury centres in the city, where there is a free flow of capital.

Best corporate treasury practices are also promoted. During the evaluation period, several banks and companies shared with The Asset how they adopted technology tools such as Hong Kong’s FPS (Faster Payment System) to enable digital collections and do away with cheques and physical cash which are still is prevalent in the city.

Leading banks have also sought to address sectoral inefficiencies in the city, encouraging property developers, educational institutions and insurance companies to adopt digitalized processes leveraging API (application programming interface) and virtual accounts to gain real-time insight into their finances.

In South Korea, the need for up-to-date knowledge of finances was also a key objective for CFOs and treasurers. In the past year, multi-bank solutions were deployed, enabling corporates to view the entirety of their accounts via a single portal. Companies have also taken advantage of sustainable-themed products offered by banks such as green deposits to bolster their environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials.

In Japan, the transaction banking market, normally dominated by local banks, is now seeing foreign banks make some headway in winning key mandates, especially from multinational corporates looking to harmonize Japanese subsidiary practices with their global standards.

Finally, in the highly competitive Taiwanese market, banks have sought to improve the treasury functions of corporates via the adoption of digital tools such as API connectivity to improve payment turnaround times and enhance customer experience.  

Across the North Asia region, companies have strived not only to grow their respective businesses but also to improve the operational processes of their clients in various sectors, enabling inclusive growth within their respective ecosystems.

For the complete list of North Asia winners, please click here.

To learn more about these awards, please click here.

To join the in-person annual celebratory dinner on the 6th of July 2022 at the Four Seasons Singapore, please contact us at [email protected].

Stay tuned in the coming days and weeks as more announcements are on the horizon as part of The Asset Triple A Treasury, Trade, SSC and Risk Management Awards 2022.