Bank of America Merrill Lynch Launches Liquidity Express

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA Merrill) today announced the launch of Liquidity Express, a new Virtual Account Management (VAM)-based solution which offers an alternative to notional pooling and physical cash concentration. Liquidity Express allows clients to consolidate funds from multiple accounts into a single balance position and categorise and report these transfers using a virtual account arrangement. This ‘all-in-one’ tool combines the bank’s VAM, Global Liquidity Platform (GLP) and CashPro Assistant Analytics & Forecasting capabilities into a new liquidity package, which will simplify client account structures, saving time and money.

Through Liquidity Express, clients with less complex liquidity needs and leaner treasury organisations will be able to categorise and report fund transfers to a single physical bank account using VAM. This reduces the need to open and maintain multiple accounts. As the balance positions are reported as aggregated within the virtual account structure, there is no need for a separate cash concentration arrangement, and the credit utilisation is naturally reduced.

Where separate physical accounts need to be maintained for operational, tax or regulatory reasons, the GLP sweep capabilities can automate the physical transfer of funds and at the same time track and reconcile fund movements.

The client benefits of Liquidity Express include:

• Simplicity: A practical and simple alternative to physical cash concentration and notional pooling – with reduced documentation, credit, tax and accounting complexities.
• Cost efficiency: Lower running costs due to reduced number of physical accounts and sweeps.
• Flexibility: Ability to add new virtual accounts via the portal.

Mark Smith, global head of Liquidity Management for Global Transaction Services (GTS) at BofA Merrill said, “We’re proud to launch Liquidity Express. It’s ideal for clients who may not be eligible for traditional notional pooling products, have less complex needs and require a solution that is quick and straightforward to implement.”

Liquidity Express is currently available to clients for US dollar, euro and pound sterling accounts held in UK and Ireland.

Henrik Lang, head of Liquidity for GTS EMEA at BofA Merrill, said, “Physical cash concentration and notional pooling have traditionally been the only liquidity tools available for clients to offset long and short balances positions – Liquidity Express offers a flexible yet practical alternative by using VAM to categorise and report fund transfers to a single physical bank account.

“For clients with simple needs, it can work as a stand-alone concentration tool; for clients with more complex needs, it could be useful as a complementary solution to their broader liquidity structure.”

Please note: All transactions reconcile funds with the physical account. Virtual accounts hold no funds; they only categorize and report transactions of the physical account. Please see general disclaimer for Bank of America Merrill Lynch at www.bofaml.com/disclaimer.

Bank of America

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