Commenting, Tom Schickler, Global Head of Liquidity for HSBC's Global Payments and Cash Management business said: "Corporates are trying to self-fund wherever possible given concerns about market liquidity and expectations around increasing costs of bank borrowing due to regulatory changes. The trend has accelerated in the last 18 months, while large multinationals have used pooling for several years, middle-market companies are now starting to adopt these structures."

Companies' ability to effectively manage cash has made treasury functions a key strategic component of organisations of all sizes. While banks have offered notional pooling and cross-border sweeps for many years, deploying GLS in Australia is significant. Historically, companies have tended to segment their liquidity management regionally or in major currencies; however Schickler remarks, "We're seeing a distinct shift towards clients managing liquidity from a single, global position. With the roll-out of GLS to Australia and Japan, HSBC broadens the number of financial centres that clients can use as their international cash pooling locations, and have access to the full portfolio of products, single or multi-currency, physical or notional, domestic or cross-border."

John Laurens, Head of Global Payments and Cash Management, Asia Pacific highlighted the importance of the new functionality for companies in the region. He said: "As Asian corporates expand internationally, it is imperative that their liquidity management strategy is developed to support their global growth objectives. Our suite of cross border liquidity solutions is designed to more actively and efficiently help our clients improve their funding and working capital management on a local, regional and global level."

The move reflects HSBC's ability to create meaningful, client-focused solutions which reflect the changing regulatory environment.

HSBC's Global Liquidity Solutions provide access to cash for treasurers, over and above the well worn mantra of 'visibility and control'. Again this is significant as Schickler explains: "Treasurers are globalising their liquidity, rather than operating purely on a regional or currency basis. This provides companies benefits such as the ability to manage their FX exposure and minimise the costs associated with it, while integrating their global liquidity position with their accounts payable and receivable seamlessly."