Most US treasury teams lack confidence in liquidity crisis plans

Only 27% of corporate treasury professionals say they are fully confident in their approach to protecting principal and maintaining liquidity in a financial crisis, according to a survey of 190 US-based respondents. Despite growing awareness of market and counterparty risk, most treasury teams still rely on traditional bank deposits and money market funds without fully reassessing the safety of their frameworks. The findings come from the first Corporate Cash Confidence survey conducted by regulated bank and technology provider Jiko. The data points to a gap between perception and preparedness, particularly when it comes to underlying counterparty exposures.

While money market funds remain a popular tool for liquidity management, the majority of respondents said they were unclear on the counterparties and securities held within these vehicles. Just 16% reported regularly reviewing detailed fund holdings and monitoring exposures. A further 39% said they rely on the manager’s investment policy or summary-level breakdowns, without reviewing specific counterparties.

The results raise concerns about how prepared treasury teams are to respond in the event of systemic disruption, particularly given the banking sector volatility seen in 2023. Despite recognising the limitations of legacy approaches, only a small proportion of respondents have made structural changes.

Treasury bills offer one of the safest cash instruments available, but direct access remains limited. Just 5% of respondents said managing T-bills was less complex than using a money market fund, reflecting persistent perceptions of administrative burden. However, two-thirds of respondents said they would feel safer using a solution that enabled direct ownership of T-bills held in their name, with no intermediary or redemption risk. This suggests growing appetite for more transparent, custody-driven models that eliminate counterparty exposure.

The survey was conducted at major treasury conferences between late April and early June 2025. It reflects responses from corporate treasury and finance professionals across a range of industries and company sizes in the US.

 

Virtual card adoption accelerates as procurement teams target efficiency gains

Virtual card usage is surging among procurement leaders, with over 90% now using, planning to use, or expressing interest in adopting the digital payment method, according to a global study by SAP Taulia. The research, which surveyed 170 procurement leaders from 19 countries, reveals a sharp rise in appetite for virtual cards as firms seek faster, safer, and more efficient ways to manage spend. Nearly half of respondents (45%) already use virtual cards, while 28% plan to implement them within the next 6-18 months. A further 20% are exploring broader adoption.

Virtual cards are particularly attractive for managing one-time payments and addressing onboarding delays, both of which remain key pain points. According to the survey, 78% of procurement professionals say it takes more than a month to authorise a new supplier, with 40% reporting delays of three months or longer. Managing risk and compliance (61%) and collecting supplier data (58%) are the most common hurdles in the onboarding process.

Two in five respondents (41%) say they are extremely likely to use virtual cards for one-time supplier payments, suggesting these tools are becoming an essential part of the procurement toolkit.

The study also indicates that virtual cards are not just being used tactically, but are increasingly forming part of broader spend management strategies. Among respondents already using or planning to use virtual cards, 87% say they expect to allocate more than 10% of their total company spend to them within two years. Regional ambition is strongest in EMEA, where 85% of procurement teams plan to route over a quarter of spend through virtual cards. In the Americas, that figure stands at 54%.

SAP Taulia, which rebranded under the SAP group in May 2025 following its 2022 acquisition, says the findings align with growing client demand for payment solutions that streamline supplier onboarding while improving control and visibility. The research reflects the views of businesses with annual revenues between US$1bn and US$10bn, spanning a broad range of sectors. As virtual cards continue to gain traction, procurement leaders appear increasingly ready to move away from manual processes in favour of digital solutions that can unlock working capital and reduce friction in the payables cycle.

 

Goldman Sachs revises US GDP forecast upward despite tariff headwinds

Goldman Sachs has slightly raised its US GDP forecast for the fourth quarter of 2025, citing milder-than-expected impacts from trade tariffs and an easing in financial conditions. The bank now expects year-on-year GDP growth to reach 1.25%, up from its previous estimate of 1%.

According to David Mericle, chief US economist at Goldman Sachs Research, recent inflation data points to a more limited pass-through to consumer prices than initially feared. This suggests a smaller hit to real incomes and consumer spending.

Financial conditions have also improved, with broad indicators returning to levels seen before the implementation of tariffs. In addition, trade policy uncertainty has moderated as the US and its trading partners have taken steps toward de-escalation.

Goldman Sachs has not changed its underlying assumption that the effective tariff rate will eventually increase by around 14 percentage points. However, the bank now sees a slightly less severe impact on labour markets, with the unemployment rate expected to peak at 4.4%, down from the earlier forecast of 4.5%. The probability of a US recession in the next 12 months has also been revised down to 30%, from 35%.

There are no changes to the bank’s outlook on Federal Reserve policy. Goldman continues to expect the first of three interest rate cuts to come in December, followed by two additional reductions in 2026. This would bring the federal funds rate to a terminal range of 3.5–3.75%.

 

Australia unveils sustainable finance taxonomy to guide net zero investment

Australia has launched its first sustainable finance taxonomy, providing a voluntary framework for classifying green and transition finance in line with national climate goals. Developed by the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute (ASFI), the taxonomy aims to support investment flows into low-carbon projects by offering financial institutions and businesses a science-based reference point for assessing the environmental credentials of economic activities.

The initiative forms part of the Australian government’s broader Sustainable Finance Roadmap and follows a 20-month development process. It has been overseen by a technical decision-making body and supported by the Treasury and key regulators. The taxonomy is designed to reflect Australia’s distinct environmental and industrial profile, with inclusion of sectors such as mining, metals and minerals that are often excluded from international equivalents.

In another departure from existing models, the framework includes expectations around engagement with First Nations communities and the management of cultural heritage. This aligns investment standards with broader social and environmental governance objectives.

ASFI will now begin piloting the taxonomy with a group of major institutional stakeholders, including ANZ, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac, Rabobank, HESTA, Rest, and Moody’s Ratings. The pilot will test the framework in real-world investment scenarios and generate feedback to inform future updates.

Global standards body Climate Bonds Initiative, which contributed to the taxonomy’s technical development, has confirmed it will align its Certification Scheme with the Australian framework. This move is intended to encourage consistency between national and international taxonomies and enhance investor confidence.

The taxonomy is expected to evolve over time, reflecting changes in technology, policy and market dynamics. ASFI will continue working with public and private actors to embed the framework within Australia’s financial system.

 

UK banks struggle to keep pace with organised financial crime

UK banks are falling behind increasingly sophisticated money laundering networks, with 65% of fraud and compliance leaders saying criminal groups are now more advanced than the institutions trying to stop them, according to BioCatch’s inaugural Dark Economy Survey. The report, based on responses from 800 financial crime professionals across 17 countries, highlights growing concern over the so-called Dark Economy. These are global criminal networks that exploit financial systems to launder illicit funds linked to trafficking, terrorism and drug crime.

While UK institutions lead in adopting behaviour-based fraud detection, with 84% already using such tools compared with 76% globally, significant gaps remain. Nearly half of UK respondents report annual fraud losses of £8m to £20m, which is almost double the global average. Another 13% report losses exceeding £20m.

More than half (57%) of respondents working in UK financial institutions expect to increase technology spending in the coming year, focusing on data privacy, cybersecurity and regulatory complexity. Yet only 19% involve law enforcement in most suspected cases, and just 18% of global respondents say they are confident in identifying mule accounts used to launder funds.

Criminal use of AI, dark web forums and social media is cited by over 80% of UK professionals as a driver of increased sophistication. Meanwhile, only 55% believe their institution is effectively combating financial crime, compared with 77% expressing optimism at the global level.

Intelligence sharing remains limited. Just under half of UK respondents share insights with peers weekly. However, privacy laws, breach risks and concerns over data misuse continue to hinder broader collaboration.

 

GTreasury unveils AI features to tackle compliance and complexity

GTreasury has launched an enterprise AI platform designed to support treasury and finance operations, with a focus on reducing manual workloads and maintaining regulatory oversight. The tool, now integrated into GTreasury’s existing treasury management system, allows users to automate routine tasks, identify exceptions, and gain decision-support insights across areas such as cash forecasting, liquidity, payments and risk.

Built on agent-based workflows, the platform offers a high degree of transparency. AI-generated outputs are fully traceable back to source data, with built-in audit trails, role-based access, and explainability tools. Users can configure access via opt-in controls and feature flags, ensuring alignment with internal governance.

Security and compliance are core to the design. The platform adheres to ISO/IEC 42001 and ISO/IEC 27001 standards, and is structured to meet the requirements of the forthcoming EU AI Act. It also supports GDPR and CCPA compliance, with strict data residency and client data isolation. GTreasury states that client data is never used for training AI models.

The launch follows investment in GTreasury’s development hub in Dublin and reflects broader trends in the treasury technology space, where AI is increasingly being applied to enhance operational efficiency while maintaining control.

 

Major banks back ICC’s Principles for Sustainable Trade Finance

A group of leading trade finance banks have announced their endorsement of the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) Principles for Sustainable Trade Finance (ICC PSTF). This group, and further supporting banks, collectively represent as much as 25% of the global trade finance market by volume. The work, led by ICC, with support from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and newly announced endorsement by Commerzbank, ING, Santander, and Standard Chartered aims to provide clear, transparent, and consistent guidelines to enable banks, corporates and investors to effectively channel capital towards sustainable and inclusive trade finance facilities.

Unlike for many other financial products, trade finance practitioners have historically not had a clear, consistent and consensus definition on what constitutes sustainable trade finance, limiting its application. The principles, launched in October 2024, therefore provide a robust methodology for evaluating sustainable trade finance transactions, including a globally acceptable approach for assessing use-of-proceeds in trade finance transactions, proposed due diligence protocols for sustainability verification and unified reporting standards to ensure consistency across financial institutions.

As a next step, with support of these banks, ICC plans to further build on the principles including defining legal terms and extending its coverage to social sustainability, while also working with the broader trade ecosystem – including banks, corporates and regulators – to expand further endorsement. ICC welcomes any users who also wish to endorse the PSTF to an additional endorsement announcement in circa Q3 2025.

“We are thrilled to welcome the banks’ endorsement of ICC’s Principles for Sustainable Trade Finance, which marks an important step in aligning the industry around common methodology for the assessment of sustainable trade finance,” said Raelene Martin, Head of Sustainability at ICC. “We are thankful for their tremendous support in providing thought leadership and guidance that is fit for purpose for industry globally. We believe that the ICC Principles for Sustainable Trade Finance present an important milestone in embedding sustainability at the heart of global trade in a practical and robust way.”

 

RMB global payments value dropped 23% in May

Following a fall to fifth place in April, Swift’s latest RMB Tracker has shown that in May, the RMB dropped another position to be the sixth most active currency for global payments by value, with a share of 2.89%. Overall, RMB payment value decreased by 23.07% compared to April, while all payment currencies decreased by 6.81%. Regarding international payments, excluding payments within the Eurozone, the RMB ranked sixth with a share of 2.09% in May.

The tracker uses data from live and delivered MT 103 and MT 202 - customer-initiated and institutional payments - and ISO equivalent messages exchanged on Swift. Having dropped below the Japanese yen in April, in May the RMB also fell below the Canadian dollar, which moved up to fifth place with 3.11% market share. The top three currencies held firm, with the US dollar (48.46% of all global payments value) followed by the euro (23.56%), and the British pound (7.06%).

As a global currency in the trade finance market, based on live and delivered inter-group only MT 400 and MT 700 messages exchanged on SWIFT, RMB took third place based on value, accounting for 5.84% of May’s trade finance transactions. This field remains dominated by the US dollar (82.48%), with the euro in second place (5.97%).

Regarding FX spot transactions, RMB was May’s fifth most used currency for FX confirmations. The US dollar again claimed the top spot here, followed by the euro, pound, and yen. In terms of the top economies carrying out FX spot transactions in RMB, the UK came out on top in May (42.37%), followed by the US (15.12%), Hong Kong (9.31%), France (8.70%), and China (7.13%).

 

ABN Amro rejoins CLSSettlement as full member

ABN Amro has rejoined CLSSettlement as a settlement member, effective 5 May, becoming the 74th bank to participate directly in the global foreign exchange (FX) settlement system. The move marks a return to full membership for the bank, which was part of the original group of institutions when the service launched in 2002 before shifting to indirect participation in 2009.

The decision reflects ABN Amro’s renewed focus on reducing FX settlement risk and enhancing operational efficiency through payment-versus-payment (PvP) mechanisms. CLSSettlement, which processes over US$7tn in payment instructions daily across 18 major currencies, is widely recognised as the global standard for mitigating settlement risk in the FX market.

By rejoining as a direct member, ABN Amro will also provide third-party access to CLSSettlement for its clients. This step aligns with the best practice guidance set out in Principle 35 of the FX Global Code, which encourages the use of PvP settlement where possible.

Participation in CLSSettlement enables banks to benefit from multilateral netting and tools such as the in/out swap mechanism, which can significantly reduce the funding required to settle trades. On average, direct participants need to fund only around 1% of the total value of their payment instructions each day.

 

Tipalti acquires Statement to expand treasury automation offering

Finance automation firm Tipalti has acquired treasury automation provider Statement in a move to enhance its platform’s real-time cash visibility and forecasting capabilities. The transaction was signed on 16 June, with terms undisclosed. Statement, an AI-native company focused on treasury operations, brings functionality that automates cash position tracking, forecasting and insights across banks, ERPs, billing platforms and databases. Its integration is aimed at helping Tipalti customers manage liquidity more effectively and reduce manual work involved in treasury processes.

For existing Tipalti users, Statement Treasury is now available as a standalone product. Full integration into the Tipalti platform is planned in the coming months, allowing finance teams to manage payables, expenses, tax compliance and treasury within a single environment.

Tipalti said the acquisition addresses rising demand among mid-market businesses for tools that consolidate cash positions across multiple bank accounts, legal entities and currencies. The move follows the company’s earlier acquisition of procurement platform Approve.com in 2021.

Statement customers will see no immediate changes to service or access. However, they are expected to benefit from Tipalti’s broader global footprint and product infrastructure.

 

Finmo launches AI co-pilot for global finance teams

Singapore-based fintech Finmo has launched MO AI, a conversational assistant designed to help finance teams manage treasury operations across multiple entities and currencies. The tool is embedded within Finmo’s treasury platform and uses natural language queries to streamline tasks such as retrieving account balances, analysing payments, and generating reports.

MO AI is built on a custom architecture that integrates real-time financial data, understands finance-specific terminology, and can execute transactions securely with full traceability. It incorporates Finmo’s Model Context Protocol, which supports enterprise-level authorisation workflows and contextual decision-making.

Unlike generic AI tools, MO AI has been trained on real financial transaction data, allowing it to deliver more precise and relevant responses. Finmo positions the assistant as a strategic tool for CFOs, controllers, and finance teams seeking to reduce complexity and improve decision-making across global operations.

The company says MO AI marks the start of a broader move toward intelligent finance, with future plans to introduce predictive capabilities, deeper workflow automation, and adaptive learning tailored to individual users.

 

OSTTRA expands FX settlement options with tokenised money via Partior

OSTTRA and Baton Systems have added Partior to their FX settlement network, enabling financial institutions to settle transactions using tokenised commercial bank money with payment-versus-payment (PvP) protection. The integration supports 24/7 settlement and expands participants' choice of funding instruments to include tokenised versions of USD, EUR and SGD.

The move is designed to improve liquidity management and reduce the need for pre-funding by allowing institutions to match and settle transactions flexibly across fiat and tokenised currencies. The network's infrastructure, powered by Baton’s distributed ledger technology, supports programmable PvP and automated orchestration for matching, netting and settlement.

Partior’s inclusion builds on OSTTRA and Baton’s existing efforts to scale PvP adoption. Institutions connected to the network can now settle trades with a combination of fiat and tokenised money, reflecting broader market shifts toward digital assets and real-time settlement. The service aims to reduce settlement risk and improve capital efficiency across time zones.

The initiative leverages Partior’s digital cash settlement test network and positions the joint platform as a potential settlement venue for a growing number of tokenised assets. Baton reports that its infrastructure has already facilitated over US$13tn in FX settlements.

 

U.S. Bank expands embedded payments offering for business clients

U.S. Bank has expanded its suite of embedded payment solutions, offering businesses enhanced tools to integrate payment capabilities directly into their websites, apps and enterprise systems. The update includes support for for-benefit-of (FBO) account structures, allowing firms to move money on behalf of customers while managing multiple virtual accounts under a single framework.

The expanded solution aims to streamline onboarding, verification and payment processing while offering a broad range of payment options, including real-time payments. It supports businesses in sectors such as fintech, insurance, healthcare, and retail, helping them deliver faster and more secure transaction experiences for customers, employees and suppliers.

The FBO structure enables companies to track and manage funds at the participant level, improving transparency and financial control. U.S. Bank says the enhancements are designed to meet growing demand for integrated treasury and payment tools that can reduce friction, optimise liquidity and support digital transformation efforts.

Clients such as Basefund and Rain are already using the platform to facilitate high-value, multi-party and real-time wage payments. The bank’s embedded payments capabilities build on its broader suite of services, including merchant acquiring through its Elavon subsidiary.

 

Solidgate launches treasury platform for cross-border digital businesses

Payment orchestration provider Solidgate has launched Solidgate Treasury, a platform aimed at helping digital businesses manage cross-border payments and financial operations more efficiently. The service offers multi-currency business accounts, fast onboarding, SEPA transfers and planned support for SWIFT payments, currency exchange, mass payouts and virtual cards.

Targeting firms expanding across the EU and beyond, Solidgate Treasury provides EUR accounts with unique IBANs under the user’s name, enabling direct fund transfers without intermediaries. The platform supports SEPA Instant and SEPA Regular transfers, allowing 24/7 international fund movement. USD and GBP account functionality is expected to follow later in the year.

Solidgate positions the service as a response to common barriers faced by digital businesses, including lengthy onboarding processes, hidden fees and complex compliance requirements. The platform promises a simplified setup process, transparent pricing, and tools to support real-time financial control.

Upcoming features include currency exchange with no hidden markups, mass payouts powered by Visa Direct and Mastercard Move, and virtual multi-currency corporate cards for business expenses and travel.