The Cash Management Module is fully integrated into version 6.5 of The Trema Suite, launched 2004. Customers including Merck, Philips and Applera have all upgraded to the latest version of the Cash Management Module. The announcement marks the completion of the Alterna acquisition, which strengthens Trema's existing cash management capabilities, particularly in the area of payment factory and in-house banking.

In March 2004, Trema acquired Alterna Technologies Group, a North American provider of sophisticated cash and liquidity management software. Launched in May 2004, version 6.5 of the Trema Suite integrated Alterna's 'Auros' cash management product with Trema's industry leading treasury and asset management software. Key benefits of the integrated solution include:

Complete visibility and transparency of an organization's world-wide financial position due to the provision of a single database for all financial instruments including all cash;

Integration of commercial and financial flows, enabling the creation of payment factories and in-house banks to deliver measurable ROI through better working capital management, and reduced banking fees and transaction charges;

Tighter control and auditability of treasury-related processes from subsidiary level to central treasury, supporting compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, facilitated by one integrated rules-based process flow for all entities and instrument classes;

Compliance with IFRS and FASB accounting standards through support of the entire financial data lifecycle, including hedging.

Michèle Fitzpatrick, CEO, Trema, comments, "We see an increased consolidation in the treasury software market and the true indicator of the success of a software acquisition is when customers have migrated to the new, fully integrated, product. Integration on this scale is extremely rare in this market, but we are committed to this approach because of the added value to the customer. Not only does it deliver an up to date technical platform and the ability to extend functionality through a modular approach, it also optimizes our substantial R&D resources. This has been an important and successful acquisition for Trema, both in supporting our expansion within the Americas and by integrating sophisticated cash and liquidity management capabilities into the Trema Suite."