JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced Wednesday that it has expanded its U.S Dollar Clearing-Asia Direct service to include banks in Japan.
The New York banking company said its JPMorgan Treasury Services unit had added direct access to Japan's Tokyo Dollar Clearing system, which it had operated since establishing it in 1986.
The Asia Direct service initially gave U.S. dollar clearing clients direct access to banks in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan that are members of Hong Kong's Clearing House Automated Transfer System, known as Chats, JPMorgan Chase said.
The service bypasses the need for clients to establish separate accounts in each country of clearing, leading to better cash concentration, lower fees and simplified funding arrangements and reconciliation, said Abdul Roaf Latiff, Asia head of treasury services, clearing and foreign exchange in the treasury services unit. "By expediting their payments," he said, "our clients also are positioned to improve their relationships with customers, counterparties and suppliers and, thus, negotiate better terms."
JPMorgan Chase said it plans to expand the service to additional in-country clearing systems in Asia.
It also said it has invested in an intelligent-routing technology to streamline processing and accelerate settlement by choosing the fastest channel for delivery.
