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Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2006
Global Best Bank I Global Best Investment Bank I Global Best M&A house I Global Best investment-grade debt house I Global Best leveraged finance house I Global Best ABS house I Global Best project finance house I Global: Best equity house I Global Best equity-linked house I Global Best structured product house I Global Best risk management house I Global Best commodities house I Global Best credit derivatives house I Global Best CDO house I Global Best foreign exchange house I Global Best cash management house I Global Best investor services house I Global Best private bank I Global Best private equity house I Global Best hedge fund manager
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Also shortlisted in this category: Deutsche Bank HSBC |
HSBC has expanded its global business and won this year’s award for best cash management house in North America, beating Citigroup at home. JPMorgan looks strong in Europe and North America, and has entered into an innovative trade finance agreement with the Islamic Development Bank that could significantly boost its Middle East business. Deutsche Bank has been especially impressive, winning business from its rivals and making key hires. It won several mandates from Citigroup in Asia and Europe, for example, and has hired the experienced Marilyn Spearing from HSBC to head its trade finance and cash management corporates division. The bank was, in fact, very close to winning this year’s global award.
| Paul Galant: new records for Citigroup in momentum and growth |  |
It is hard, though, to argue with Citigroup’s numbers and its commitment to establishing a global platform. Revenues from the bank’s cash management division continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate much higher than the industry average, and Euromoney was impressed by the continuing implementation and development of last year’s standout product, TreasuryVision.
“Ours is a compelling story this year,” says Paul Galant, global head of cash management at Citigroup. “We’ve set new records in terms of momentum and growth. Each month’s revenues have been better than the last, and we’re particularly pleased to see our liabilities growing at 30% CAGR since that suggests our clients are executing more of their transaction business through us and depositing considerably greater balances to support the volumes.”
Everyone expects Citigroup to perform as a money machine but for a bank that has received much criticism for a perceived lack of nimbleness it manages to sustain a surprisingly high level of technological innovation. More and more clients eager to increase transparency and save money are now using TreasuryVision, the internet-based cashflow consolidation programme adopted by PepsiCo last year. After it suffered an Enron-style accounting scandal, Tyco International is perhaps still remembered as a company that needs better transparency more than most. It has increased its usage of TreasuryVision from an initial trial in the Asia-Pacific region, and now runs the program globally.
“TreasuryVision has gone from being a transparency tool to one that can help you manage the treasury business processes and tell you how best to use your cash,” says Galant. “This year we’ve really evolved its interoperability and the profitability that it can generate by analysing all of a company’s cashflows and advising a treasurer where they might best be deployed.” Unilever has also adopted the software in the Africa and the Middle East, and it will be interesting to see how that develops given that HSBC has won mandates from the same company to develop its business in Asia.
“TreasuryVision is also of particular interest to the public sector,” continues Galant. “If you think Pepsi is a large and complex organization, you should see the US government.” Citigroup is now handling all American passport applications and has won a mandate to be the single provider of cross-border pensions to overseas workers from the UK – delivering the cash in the local currency of the resident.
Next year’s award will be hard-fought. The banks pitching this year all seemed to agree that establishing a truly effective pan-global platform remains the key to dominance in the cash management business; they were all also convinced that they were the only bank to have produced such a platform. Citigroup’s excellent profitability and investment in technological innovation make it this year’s winner, but it will have to fight hard to be in the same position in 12 months’ time.
Global Best Bank I Global Best Investment Bank I Global Best M&A house I Global Best investment-grade debt house I Global Best leveraged finance house I Global Best ABS house I Global Best project finance house I Global: Best equity house I Global Best equity-linked house I Global Best structured product house I Global Best risk management house I Global Best commodities house I Global Best credit derivatives house I Global Best CDO house I Global Best foreign exchange house I Global Best cash management house I Global Best investor services house I Global Best private bank I Global Best private equity house I Global Best hedge fund manager
