Strategy

With fiduciary duty reforms and audit oversight changes now law, Korean corporates face growing shareholder pressure on capital allocation, dividend policy and financial transparency – placing treasury functions in the spotlight.

Markus Wenker, CFO at Yinson Production, talked to CT about his team’s engagement in the capital markets to diversify its funding base, due to external and internal factors.

Amid the uncertainty a US giant has suspended some apparel orders from the country, which is competing with the likes of Cambodia and Vietnam; meanwhile government export subsidies are set to decrease.

Lucia Ma, head of treasury and inventory controller at Klook, explains how the Hong Kong-based travel firm built its own foreign exchange trading portal to handle a post-pandemic surge in FX exposure.

As investors start pricing sovereign debt risk into long-term yields, corporate treasurers must rethink duration, diversify currency exposure, and prepare for a world where bond markets –not central banks – set the tone.

The needs for treasury transformation and restructuring at firms in the SAR is growing.

Despite a tentative US, China deal, uncertainty around tariffs has increased demand for trade finance products from Asian corporates, as firms look to reroute supply chains, derisk and improve working capital.

Asian corporates look to strengthen ties across Asean in face of US tariff uncertainty; one Hong Kong-based CFO said their firm is sourcing more from Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Investment strategies, such as MMFs, are being reconsidered, while cash buffers are growing; meanwhile a major US court ruling could derail the tariffs.

Exports grew 15% in Q1, however there is expected to be a slowdown moving forward as tariffs bite, the baht remains strong and tourism faces headwinds.

JP Morgan Payments' global head of treasury services discussed how Apac corporate payments are evolving, including the drive for real-time, digital wallets, APIs and blockchain.

Adnan Zaylan Mohamad Zahid, deputy governor at the Bank Negara Malaysia, told an audience at Money 20/20 Asia that Asean is innovating with cross-border payments, QR codes, Project Nexus, sandboxes and Islamic finance.