Bob Lyddon, managing director of Ibos and James Graham, chief executive officer of treasury management for PNC, attended the official signing ceremony today in Pittsburgh, USA.

Ibos is a banking association which fosters inter-bank cooperation. The Ibos network is based on its 12 members and their subsidiaries, each of which is a leading supplier of local banking services in their domestic markets. Ibos provides corporate customers access to competitive local services at the Ibos bank in each country, offering local in-country accounts.

"During the economic downturn, our corporate customers have sought new markets, trading partners or acquisitions outside of the U.S. PNC has invested significantly to expand our cash management capabilities to address their cross-border banking needs," said Graham, who will also serve on the IBOS Board of Directors. "This alliance enhances our ability to connect our customers to the entire Ibos network of banks and provide in-country accounts and multicurrency balance reporting without having to build or acquire a brick-and-mortar presence around the globe."

IBOS is currently active in 28 countries and is rapidly expanding; its members include Santander, HSBC France, Intesa SanPaolo, KBC, Nordea, RBS, and UniCredit Bank. Ibos Association has a central support office in London, which coordinates the streams of work and the processes that make Ibos a network.

Bob Lyddon, managing director of Ibos Association said: "On behalf of all the current member banks in Ibos I can say that we are truly delighted that PNC Bank has decided to join the Association at this time. It ensures that the Ibos offering will be brought in front of a diverse and interesting client base of corporate customers of the bank. Equally it is a strong endorsement of the Ibos business model, as a way for a bank to deliver comprehensive and effective services to its customers in countries where the bank is not present. That could apply to more banks and more countries as the financial effect of new regulations impose themselves, at the same time as corporate customers are continuing to globalise."