FCA softens MMF liquidity plan

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has stepped back from a proposed rigid 50% weekly liquidity requirement for money market funds (MMFs), opting instead for a more flexible supervisory approach after further analysis with the Bank of England.

MMFs are widely used by corporate treasurers and other investors as a cash management tool, either as an alternative to bank deposits or as a complement to them. Recent market stress has prompted regulators to strengthen resilience in the sector, but the balance is delicate: higher liquidity buffers can improve protection in stressed markets, while affecting fund yields and how useful the products remain.

In its original consultation, the FCA proposed raising minimum daily liquid assets to 15% and weekly liquid assets to 50% across all UK-domiciled MMFs. It also proposed delinking liquidity thresholds from the requirement for stable net asset value funds to consider or impose tools such as liquidity fees or redemption gates.

Responses broadly supported delinking, but a significant majority questioned the proposed increase in liquidity levels. Stakeholders gave further evidence on how liquidity risk is managed in practice, including investor outflows during recent stress episodes and assumptions used in the modelling behind the initial proposals.

Further work by the FCA and Bank of England has shifted the regulatory judgement. The updated analysis draws on the Bank’s system-wide exploratory scenario exercise, which assessed how the UK financial system might respond to a market shock. The exercise indicated that, in some scenarios, MMF outflows may be lower than in previous stress periods, reflecting market structure changes and firms’ improved ability to meet liquidity needs through alternative channels.

Under the revised approach, the FCA plans to require all MMFs to hold sufficient liquidity for adequate resilience. Current minimum weekly liquid asset requirements under the UK Money Market Funds Regulation would remain in rules, but guidance would set out a strong supervisory expectation that stable net asset value funds hold 40% weekly liquid assets, while variable net asset value funds hold 20%.

Funds could fall temporarily below those levels, but the FCA says this should be used only to meet redemptions or for reasons beyond the manager’s control, which it expects to arise rarely. It does not expect funds to regularly hold lower weekly liquidity around quarter or year-end.

Daily liquid asset requirements will remain unchanged, with no additional guidance planned. Other consultation measures are expected to proceed largely as planned, including delinking and enhanced know your customer requirements covering investor concentration and correlated withdrawal risk.

The update points to a regime that raises resilience expectations without imposing the sharper liquidity buffer first proposed. The government expects repeal legislation for the existing regulation by end-2026, with the FCA planning rules to the same timetable.

 

Treasurers face wider geopolitical risk map

Treasurers and CFOs may need to look beyond the immediate market impact of the Middle East war as other geopolitical shifts gather pace across Ukraine, Europe, China and global defence supply chains. These developments are not remote political signals. They could affect sanctions exposure, FX risk, commodity pricing, trade routes, investment flows, supply-chain resilience and the assumptions companies use in cash forecasting and scenario planning.

A Deutsche Bank Research Institute report by analysts Helen Belopolsky and Miha Hribernik, ‘Geopolitics beyond Iran’, published on 9 June, argues that the world has not stood still during the Middle East conflict. While the Iran crisis has dominated market attention since 28 February, the analysts identify several other developments that could shape market trajectories and create strategic opportunities over the coming year.

The first is Ukraine. Although talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine have stalled during the Iran conflict, the analysts say signs of war fatigue could bring a ceasefire closer than many investors expect. They cite polling showing Russian support for peace talks at 67% in March, while 72% of Ukrainians could support a plan freezing the conflict along current frontlines.

Any credible move towards a deal would matter for markets. A ceasefire could open questions around sanctions relief, Ukrainian agricultural exports, European Union accession and reconstruction, with potential investment implications across minerals, gas infrastructure, technology, data centres, AI, defence and city rebuilding.

European politics is another watchpoint. The report notes that far-right parties made gains in the 2024 EU elections and recent national polling, with Germany, Denmark, Latvia and Sweden due to hold elections in 2026, followed by France, Finland, Greece, Slovakia, Italy, Poland and Spain by 2027.

Migration, climate policy, national sovereignty and economic policy are the key areas to monitor. Stronger far-right performance could lead to tighter migration rules, a slower or diluted green agenda, more difficult EU consensus-building and greater pressure for national control over economic decisions. For companies, the implications could range from labour market pressure to less predictable trade and regulatory policy.

China’s positioning is also gaining traction. Belopolsky and Hribernik say Beijing has sought to present itself as a more predictable global power amid US policy volatility, even though structural tensions and derisking remain constraints. They point to senior foreign visits to Beijing in 2026 and deliverables including a US$15bn UK investment pledge into China’s pharmaceutical sector, progress on a China-Vietnam railway link, a deal for 120 Airbus jets and cuts to Canadian tariffs on Chinese EVs.

Currency and trade dynamics are part of that picture. The report cites a 30% jump in cross-border renminbi payments during the first month of the Iran war and yuan pricing for some Australian iron ore shipments. A broader shift towards RMB internationalisation would be relevant for treasury teams managing currency exposure, trade settlement and banking relationships in Asia.

Defence is the other major theme. Global defence spending reached US$2.6 trillion in 2025, while Asia’s spending rose 5.7% to US$573bn. The analysts describe Asia as both a buyer and an increasingly important seller of arms, with South Korean exports reportedly rising 83% between 2024 and 2025.

Drones add another layer. Ukraine produces around 4 million drones a year and plans to raise output to 7 million in 2026, while governments are likely to invest more heavily in drone supply chains, AI and critical minerals. That points to a wider reordering of industrial priorities and technology investment.

 

Goldman sees Fed cuts delayed until 2027

Goldman Sachs no longer expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year, after stronger US growth and labour market data pushed its forecast for the final two reductions of the cycle into 2027. David Mericle, chief US economist at Goldman Sachs Research, has moved the expected timing of those cuts to June and December 2027. The previous forecast had assumed reductions in December 2026 and March 2027.

US economic activity and labour market data “have been stronger than we anticipated in recent months, with job growth in particular picking up impressively,” Mericle writes. The shift points to a more prolonged period of restrictive monetary policy than previously expected. For corporate treasurers, that keeps funding costs, deposit yields, investment policies and hedging assumptions under scrutiny, particularly where floating-rate debt or refinancing plans depend on the timing of Fed easing.

Mericle’s team still expects gross domestic product growth to run somewhat below potential in the second half of 2026, with high oil prices weighing on spending. However, the unemployment rate is now expected to rise only slightly further this year to 4.4%, compared with a previous forecast of 4.6%.

Inflation also remains a constraint on earlier easing. Goldman Sachs Research expects the combined impact of tariffs, higher oil prices, other effects from the war in the Middle East and AI-related demand to keep annual core personal consumption expenditures inflation above 3% throughout 2026. Underlying inflation drivers appear softer, however. “As a result, we continue to expect inflation to fall to close to 2% in 2027, barring additional supply shocks,” Mericle writes.

For finance teams, the message is that rate-cut assumptions may need another review. A later Fed pivot could affect dollar funding plans, cash investment returns and foreign exchange expectations, especially for companies balancing higher energy costs against still-resilient US demand.

 

Supply chain cyber gap leaves firms exposed

UK companies are leaving major supply chain cyber risks under-checked, despite growing evidence that attacks through third parties can disrupt operations and cause large financial losses. Cybit, a technology solutions firm, pointed to the UK government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026, which found that only 15% of companies review the cyber risks of immediate suppliers, while just 6% review risks across the wider supply chain.

That gap matters because cyber incidents are increasingly linked to supplier and vendor networks. The press release cites last year’s attack on Jaguar Land Rover, which halted production for several weeks and resulted in a direct cost of almost £200m to the company. Marks & Spencer and the Co-op are also cited as recent examples of companies affected by attacks traced to a shared third-party vendor.

“It’s no longer enough to keep just your own systems and networks secure. Most organisations rely on connections to their supply chains, so strict access controls and continuous monitoring are now essential,” said Ben Large, head of cyber at Cybit.

The survey found that 43% of businesses, or about 612,000, and 28% of charities, or about 57,000, reported a cyber security breach or attack in the past 12 months.

Large said companies should require third parties to meet a recognised baseline certification, such as Cyber Essentials, and assess continuity risks and contingencies across the supply chain. Multi-factor authentication should be used where suppliers access company systems, while passkeys can reduce phishing risk.

AI-enabled monitoring and managed detection tools can also help companies analyse connections across supplier networks. The governance point is broader: third-party risk management must cover every possible entry point to systems and data.

Treasurers have a direct interest in this review. Supply chain attacks can interrupt collections, payments, inventory flows and cash forecasting, making cyber resilience part of working capital and business continuity planning.

 

Investors rotate from cash into bonds

UK investors shifted sharply into bond and mixed-asset funds in May, while trimming equity exposure and pulling money from money market funds, according to Calastone’s latest Fund Flow Index. The data points to investors putting cash back to work, but doing so selectively. Bond funds attracted net inflows of £877m, their strongest monthly inflow since June 2023 and the sixth-best month for the sector in Calastone’s 12-year record. At the same time, money market funds suffered net outflows of £669m, their third-worst month on record.

The rotation was driven by a rise in bond yields. Edward Glyn, head of global markets at Calastone, said yields had touched highs “last seen before the Global Financial Crisis”, creating an opportunity for investors to switch from cash-like funds into longer-term fixed income exposure.

That shift has relevance beyond the retail fund market. For corporate treasurers, higher yields are reshaping the relative appeal of short-term cash products, bond funds and direct fixed income exposure, particularly where liquidity policies allow some cash to be held beyond immediate operational needs.

Mixed-asset funds saw even stronger demand. Investors added a net £2.72bn during May, the second-best month on record for the sector after April’s £3.32bn inflow. Calastone said the move suggested investors were spreading risk across asset classes rather than making a high-conviction call on one market.

Equity funds moved in the opposite direction, with net redemptions of £257m. Emerging market equity funds lost £390m, European equity funds lost £213m and Asia strategies lost £232m. Global equity funds, once the most favoured category, were broadly flat with £51m of inflows and have attracted almost no net new capital over the past 14 months.

US equity funds remained an exception, adding £238m as markets were supported by a positive earnings season from large technology companies. UK-focused equity funds also recorded a rare inflow, their first since November 2024, though Calastone said the money was concentrated in a small number of large index funds.

Glyn said May looked “less like a return to risk and more like a carefully managed re-entry into markets”. He added that investors were “ready to redeploy capital”, but many preferred strategies balancing income, resilience and flexibility.

The pattern reinforces the need for corporate cash investors to keep investment policies under review as rates, yields and market volatility shift. Liquidity remains central, but the opportunity cost of staying in cash is changing.

 

Instant payments raise fraud stakes in Europe

Fraud in European payments is becoming more sophisticated, faster moving and harder for individual payment service providers to detect alone, according to a new white paper from EBA Clearing. The paper warns that fraudsters are exploiting the 24/7 speed of instant payment rails, while shifting activity across whichever payment channels have the weakest controls. The challenge is no longer only the value of fraud, but the industrial scale and technological sophistication of the criminal networks behind it.

The white paper cites latest data from the European Banking Authority and ECB showing that fraudulent credit transfers sent by payment service providers in the EU and European Economic Area reached €2.5bn in 2024, representing a fraud rate of 0.001%. By comparison, fraudulent card transactions amounted to €1.3bn.

EBA Clearing also points to external estimates showing the scale of organised fraud networks. The paper cites figures suggesting global fraud operations command a workforce of close to 1.5 million people, while users of major social and technology platforms are exposed to an estimated 15 billion scam adverts every day.

Technology is changing the nature of attacks. The white paper cites cases involving generative AI, deepfake video calls and mirrored websites that imitate legitimate financial institutions. In one example referenced in the report, a finance employee at a multinational company was persuaded to transfer US$25m, or €21.3m, after fraudsters used deepfake technology to impersonate the chief financial officer and other colleagues on a video call.

Instant payments create particular pressure because funds can move within seconds, around the clock. The paper says money mule networks can move illicit funds across multiple accounts so quickly that payment service providers have little time to intervene or recover money. Fraud-related recalls for instant payments are now 10 times higher than for standard credit transfers.

Verification of payee has become an important defence, helping to check whether a recipient’s name and International Bank Account Number match before payment authorisation. EBA Clearing says the tool is highly effective at stopping mistakes, such as typos or outdated beneficiary details. Its value against fraud is more limited, however, because many scams involve accounts where the name appears to match or where criminals use legitimate mule accounts.

Regulation is now pushing providers towards broader real-time transaction monitoring. Under the incoming Payment Services Regulation, payment service providers will be required to monitor incoming and outgoing transactions, analyse historical transaction data and participate in information-sharing arrangements for fraud prevention.

EBA Clearing says network-level monitoring can help, because it allows patterns and anomalies to be assessed across a wider payments ecosystem rather than inside one institution. Its Fraud Pattern and Anomaly Detection functionality, known as FPAD, is designed to provide real-time indicators across its SEPA payment systems, helping providers assess risk before, during and after payment processing.

This is a practical issue for corporate treasurers. Faster payments are useful only if controls keep pace. As fraud becomes more convincing and payment finality arrives faster, treasury teams may need to place even greater emphasis on beneficiary controls, internal approvals, payment screening and bank partners’ fraud defences.

 

Trelleborg becomes first Swedish company to issue a blue bond

Trelleborg Group has issued a SEK 800m blue bond, which the Swedish industrial group says is the first such issuance by a Swedish company. The five-year bond is linked to financing activities that support sustainable water and wastewater management. It was issued under Trelleborg’s updated Green and Blue Financing Framework, which broadens the company’s sustainable finance programme beyond the green bond it issued in 2021.

Blue bonds are used to finance projects connected to water, oceans or related environmental objectives. For corporate issuers, they remain a more specialised part of the sustainable debt market than green bonds, but can help align funding with specific environmental investment plans.

Trelleborg said the proceeds will support its ambition to strengthen its position in sustainable water and wastewater infrastructure solutions. The company has also established a business unit within its Industrial Solutions division dedicated to infrastructure for water and wastewater systems.

“Water management has significant potential to contribute to long-term, sustainable infrastructure, and we aim to be a positive force in that development. The blue bond enables us to maintain a high level of activity and continue driving growth within this industry, while also broadening our investor base,” said Fredrik Nilsson, chief financial officer of Trelleborg Group.

The transaction is another example of companies using labelled debt to connect financing strategy with targeted capital allocation. Where the framework, eligible activities and reporting are credible, such instruments can help issuers broaden investor reach while showing how funding supports specific business priorities.

Morningstar Sustainalytics reviewed Trelleborg’s Green and Blue Financing Framework. Swedbank acted as sole bookrunner on the transaction. Trelleborg previously issued a SEK 1bn green bond in 2021. The company said that bond financed energy-efficiency investments that contributed to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions.

 

Nordic cross-currency payments go live

The Eurosystem, Danmarks Nationalbank and Sveriges Riksbank have activated a cross-currency settlement service for instant payments between the euro, Danish krone and Swedish krona. The service operates through the TARGET Instant Payment Settlement system, known as TIPS, and allows payment service providers to settle payments between TIPS accounts denominated in different currencies. It covers PSPs participating in TIPS, TIPS-DKK or RIX-INST.

The technical solution was implemented in October 2025 and has now been tested and formally activated by the three central banks. Cross-currency payments can be processed and settled simultaneously in central bank money across the available TIPS currencies.

The development simplifies inter-PSP payments between the euro area, Denmark and Sweden for banks and payment providers by reducing the need for separate settlement processes across the three currencies.

Corporate users will not necessarily interact with the infrastructure directly, but the change could still matter for businesses operating across Nordic and eurozone markets. Faster, simultaneous settlement can support more predictable payment timing, reduce settlement risk and improve visibility over cross-border receivables and payables.

The activation points to a gradual strengthening of instant payment infrastructure in Europe. As PSPs connect, companies may see more consistent payment execution across these currency corridors.

 

Agentic AI tipped to reshape embedded finance

The Euro Banking Association has published a report arguing that agentic AI could accelerate embedded finance, while forcing financial institutions to modernise governance, data access and accountability models.

The report, ‘Supercharging embedded finance with agentic AI’, was produced by the EBA’s Open Finance Working Group, which includes more than 70 experts from 14 countries. It examines where AI agents could add value across embedded finance and how banks and partners may need to adapt.

Agentic AI refers to systems that can act with a degree of autonomy within defined parameters. In embedded finance, the report says the technology could affect three areas: customer experience and personalisation, complex operational automation and adaptive, real-time risk management.

The working group identified more than 40 potential use cases across the embedded finance customer journey before shortlisting five: an agentic cashflow optimiser, procurement and commerce optimiser, know your customer and know your business onboarding guide, payment reconciliation assistant and product configuration manager.

The most relevant areas for treasurers are cash flow optimisation, reconciliation and onboarding. Properly controlled agentic tools could reduce manual intervention, improve payment matching and support faster access to embedded financial services within procurement or enterprise platforms.

Safeguards remain central. The report identifies five success factors: real-time API access, end-to-end auditability, clear accountability and liability allocation, human-in-command checkpoints for critical decisions and bounded decision rights for AI agents.

At market level, the EBA says progress will depend on interoperable data and API standards, cross-industry digital identity frameworks and ethical and safety principles aligned with the EU AI Act and international guidelines.

 

BofA plans instant cross-border payments

Bank of America (BofA) plans to launch a cross-border real-time payments service next quarter, giving corporate, commercial and financial institution clients another route for high-volume, low-value international payments.

The service will allow clients to send and receive funds instantly through Swift or the bank’s CashPro platform. It is designed to support flows such as international remittances, gig-worker payouts and e-commerce marketplace vendor payments, areas where transaction volumes are expected to rise sharply. BofA cited FXC Intelligence data showing person-to-person cross-border payments are forecast to grow 58% by 2032, while business-to-consumer flows are expected to increase 131%.

The planned launch comes as policymakers and banks continue to work towards the G20 goal of making cross-border payments faster, cheaper, more transparent and easier to access. Traditional international payments can still involve multiple intermediaries, longer settlement times and limited visibility over charges or delivery status.

BofA said the service will connect to domestic real-time payment networks including SPEI in Mexico, the Faster Payments Service in the UK and Unified Payments Interface in India. Clients will also be able to receive inbound real-time payments into the US. The first 10 countries covered by the service will be the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand.

Corporates will be able to access the service through Swift or existing CashPro connectivity, including APIs and host-to-host channels. The bank said the service will offer real-time payment tracking, confirmation once funds are credited, pre-validation of recipient account information and full-principal delivery, with no lifting fees or deductions.

The value for treasurers sits in greater certainty around cross-border payment timing and cost. Faster delivery and clearer tracking can support reconciliation, liquidity planning and customer or supplier payout models, particularly where companies manage large numbers of smaller international payments.

 

HKMA presses tokenisation case for corporate treasury

Hong Kong’s financial regulator is seeking to draw corporate treasury centres further into tokenisation, arguing that the technology can improve transaction efficiency, lower costs and support practical use cases across treasury management, bond issuance and trade finance.

At a seminar focused on corporate treasury and tokenisation, HKMA said tokenisation is gaining attention among corporate treasurers and used the session to show recent applications in treasury operations. More than 150 participants attended, including representatives from about 50 corporates, 30 financial institutions and various treasury associations.

HKMA pointed participants towards Project Ensemble, its initiative to support Hong Kong’s tokenisation ecosystem, and encouraged companies to consider tokenised bond issuance using support measures available through the authority. Discussion also covered real-time treasury management and tokenisation in trade finance.

Panel participants generally viewed the potential for tokenisation as significant, according to HKMA, while welcoming efforts to build a larger and more active market ecosystem. For treasury teams, the operational relevance lies in whether tokenised assets and settlement structures can help improve liquidity movement, transaction speed and visibility across entities.

Following the event, HKMA said it will contact corporate treasury centres that indicated interest in tokenisation to explore possible collaboration. It will also engage CTCs on broader topics following the Hong Kong government’s Action Plan to Promote the Development of CTCs in Hong Kong, announced on 9 June. The authority says the aim is to promote use of Hong Kong’s financial platform and gather market feedback.

 

EY targets treasury-as-a-service market

EY has launched a managed treasury service powered by FIS technology, targeting companies that want to modernise treasury operations without building or running all systems in-house. The service combines EY treasury operating support with FIS treasury platforms, delivered through a Treasury-as-a-Service model. It is aimed particularly at middle-market organisations seeking access to more sophisticated cash, payments and risk capabilities without the cost and complexity of a full internal technology build.

The launch reflects a wider shift in treasury operating models. Companies are under pressure to improve cash visibility, payment control, risk management and reporting, while also dealing with regulatory demands, bank connectivity issues and the need to make better use of automation and AI.

EY said the managed service covers cash and liquidity management, payments, bank relationship administration, debt and capital management, cash forecasting, intercompany activities, financial risk across foreign exchange, interest rates and commodities, and advanced reporting.

Critical factors for treasurers are not only whether outsourced support can reduce operational workload, but whether it can improve control. Managed models can help standardise processes and give treasury teams access to technology that may otherwise be difficult to implement quickly. They also require clear governance over approvals, data, bank access, risk limits and accountability.

AI is positioned as part of the service, with the aim of supporting faster insight, automation and better reporting. In practice, treasury teams will still need to assess how AI-enabled processes are controlled, tested and monitored, particularly where they touch payments, forecasting or financial risk.

FIS’ role is to provide the underlying treasury technology, while EY professionals operate and support the service. The model is part of EY Finance Managed Services, which covers broader finance and back-office activities.

 

Citi tokenises link between private firms and investors

Citi has launched tokenised depositary receipts for private company shares, creating a digitally native structure intended to connect private issuers with investors. The product, called Digital Depositary Receipts, applies Citi’s depositary receipt model to private market shares. Citi said it is acting as both issuer and custodian for the tokenised receipts.

Its launch comes as longer IPO timelines push private companies to look for alternative routes to liquidity. Secondary markets can be fragmented, with structures that may involve multiple intermediaries, limited transparency and complex fee arrangements.

Citi’s model is designed to offer a more direct structure. The bank said acting as a single issuer and custodian can reduce potential complexity compared with some third-party special purpose vehicle models. The infrastructure uses blockchain technology operated by SIX, which Citi described as a regulated digital central securities depository. Citi is responsible for settlement and safekeeping of the tokenised depositary receipts on the platform.

The first transaction involved Kaleido, an institutional tokenisation and digital asset platform and Citi portfolio company, and investors within Citi’s wealth business. The transaction was supported by Citi’s Secondary Private Markets business.

For issuers, the structure is intended to support distribution and transfer without a public listing or changes to underlying ownership rights. Citi said companies can retain control over voting and simplify cap table management while broadening investor outreach.

The development shows how tokenisation is moving from market infrastructure experiments into private capital formation. The test will be whether such structures can improve liquidity and transparency without adding governance complexity.

Bottomline targets cash visibility gap with AI suite

Bottomline has launched CFO Suite, a modular platform intended to connect cash forecasting, invoice processing, payments, collections and cash application for finance teams under pressure to improve cash visibility.

The company’s research suggests many CFOs are being pushed to adopt AI before their finance data and controls are ready. Some 78% say fragmented finance systems are slowing the speed, visibility and control expected from finance, while 90% report board pressure to deploy AI. However, 76% say they are being asked to move faster than their data, systems and controls can support.

Fewer than half of CFOs are completely confident in their ability to forecast cash accurately over the next 30 days. Spreadsheets and manual downloads are cited as the main obstacle to a clear view of cash and working capital.

CFO Suite is designed to sit across treasury, accounts payable, accounts receivable and payments without requiring a wholesale replacement of existing systems. Bottomline says it connects payment data, bank activity, invoices, enterprise resource planning data and finance workflows into one operational view.

BEA Agentic Platform, Bottomline’s finance-focused AI orchestration engine, powers the suite and is intended to apply AI inside existing finance workflows. Use cases include classification, data extraction, anomaly detection, payment matching, cash forecasting and collections prioritisation.

Control remains central to the pitch. Bottomline’s research found 79% of CFOs do not think AI should act in finance workflows without human approval, audit trails and clear accountability, while the same share say their finance data is not clean, connected or controlled enough to support trusted AI adoption.

 

XTransfer and SocGen target trade payment friction

XTransfer and Societe Generale have signed an MoU to explore integrated cross-border payment solutions for businesses moving trade flows between China, Europe and wider global markets. The agreement, signed during Money20/20 Europe 2026 in Amsterdam, focuses on improving collection, outbound payment, foreign exchange and settlement services for internationally active companies. It brings together XTransfer’s B2B trade payments platform with Societe Generale’s transaction banking infrastructure and regulatory expertise.

Companies involved in cross-border trade still face payment frictions that can affect working capital and operational planning. The source material points to fragmented collection arrangements, limited transparency over fees and FX, slower settlement and compliance requirements across jurisdictions.

Under the MoU, the firms will explore local collection and outbound payment solutions intended to help suppliers receive funds from overseas buyers and allow global importers to pay suppliers across markets with greater operational certainty.

Plans also include Pay to China services with US dollar and CNY settlement, covering transfer services in Hong Kong and mainland China. That element is aimed at strengthening payment connectivity for trade flows between Asia and Europe.

FX services are another area of exploration. XTransfer and Societe Generale will assess tools designed to support conversion of local currencies into major currencies including US dollars and euros, with the aim of making settlement more predictable for cross-border traders.

 

WaveBL and TradeWaltz link trade platforms

WaveBL and TradeWaltz have signed an integration agreement that will allow digital trade documents to be exchanged between their platforms, expanding connectivity into Japan’s trade finance market. Users on TradeWaltz, including Japanese banks and corporates, will be able to access electronic structured bank presentations and electronic bills of lading issued on WaveBL. The integration is intended to support fully digital presentation of documents for letters of credit and collection transactions.

Backed by a consortium of Japanese stakeholders, including the country’s three megabanks, TradeWaltz gives the link-up relevance for banks and companies involved in Japan’s global trade flows. WaveBL users will gain a route to Japanese banks and corporates through the TradeWaltz platform.

Paper dependency remains one of trade finance’s persistent sources of delay. Electronic bills of lading and structured digital presentations can help shorten transaction timelines, improve document visibility and reduce errors across bank, carrier and counterparty processes, especially where documents move between multiple systems and jurisdictions.

Secure and compliant document exchange between platforms is also important because digital trade adoption depends on interoperability. Separate networks need to connect if banks and corporates are to move beyond fragmented pilots and make electronic trade documentation work across markets.

 

Agentic payments edge closer to merchant checkout

Getnet, Santander’s global merchant payments platform, has developed infrastructure intended to let merchants accept and process payments initiated by AI agents through a single integration. Its launch reflects a wider push in payments to prepare for AI agents that can move beyond product recommendations and complete purchases on behalf of users. For merchants, that raises practical questions around identity, authentication, user intent and how agent-led transactions flow through existing acquiring arrangements.

Getnet says its infrastructure allows agents owned by merchants, or operating through conversational platforms, to connect directly to its global payments infrastructure. It is described as based on open standards, interoperable and protocol-agnostic, with identification and authentication mechanisms intended to support transaction security.

Alongside Mastercard and Mexican housing fintech Neivor, Getnet has completed what the companies describe as the first real-world case in Mexico and Latin America of accepting and processing a payment initiated by an AI agent using Mastercard Agent Pay. Neivor’s platform digitises payments and resident interactions across the real estate sector.

Compatibility with Mastercard Agent Pay has already been enabled, while integration with Visa Intelligent Commerce is planned. Those developments point to payment networks and acquirers positioning authentication, verified intent and interoperability as central requirements if agent-initiated commerce is to move beyond pilots.

Initially, the solution is available to businesses that already operate their own AI agents. Getnet says it plans further solutions with built-in agent capabilities, which could give smaller merchants access to agent-enabled payment journeys without requiring them to develop their own AI infrastructure.

 

Grasshopper targets idle cash with treasury offer

Digital bank Grasshopper has added a treasury management offering for business banking clients, giving eligible companies access to investment portfolios for idle cash through its digital banking platform. Developed with Waldo, a US-regulated investment adviser, the service allows clients to access treasury portfolios with different yield, risk and tax profiles. Grasshopper says target yields can reach up to 5%, with same-day withdrawals available.

For scaling companies, the launch points to growing demand for cash management options that sit closer to day-to-day banking. Higher-rate environments have made idle balances more visible, while finance teams still need liquidity available for payroll, supplier payments and operating needs.

Waldo, which is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser, provides the underlying portfolio access. The offering also includes AI-based insights, extended Securities Investor Protection Corporation coverage, bank-level encryption and SOC II certification, according to the companies.

Access is subject to an introductory consultation and eligibility checks. Grasshopper clients must meet a US$250,000 minimum to use the service, although the underlying investment products do not have their own minimum. Approved clients can manage treasury accounts from Grasshopper’s digital banking dashboard, placing investment activity alongside existing business banking workflows.

 

Moment and Ramp target corporate cash investment gap

Moment and Ramp have formed a partnership that gives Ramp customers access to professionally managed fixed income portfolios inside Ramp’s financial operations platform. The service is available through Ramp’s Investment Account, with portfolios managed by Moment Advisors. Securities products are offered by Apex Clearing Corporation, according to the companies. Ramp says more than US$1bn in deposits has been added to the account over the past three months.

Moment provides fixed income infrastructure covering execution, portfolio construction, liquidity segmentation and reporting. Its technology is used by firms managing more than US$10 trillion in assets, while Ramp says its platform is used by more than 70,000 companies to manage over US$200bn in annual purchases.

For finance teams, the partnership reflects a growing push to bring cash investment tools closer to spend management, bill pay and accounting workflows. Companies with rising cash balances often need more than basic money market fund access, but may not have the treasury resources to manage institutional bank onboarding, manual trade requests and separate reporting processes.

The two firms say the arrangement supports automated optimisation, reinvestment and rebalancing. Over time, they intend to support more programmatic movement between operating and investment accounts as card spend and bill payments change liquidity needs.