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A New ERA for Treasury. From Europe to Asia and Beyond


Strategic Alliance between Treasury Recruitment Hub (Switzerland / EMEA) and Momentum-DFT (Malaysia / APAC).

For more than two decades, multinational corporations have followed a clear pattern in structuring their treasury organisations:

global governance headquartered in Europe, with high-performance regional treasury hubs in Asia and the Middle East.


This model is no accident. It is the product of operational reality, market gravity, and a recognition that no single geography alone can deliver the full spectrum of treasury capabilities required in a volatile and interconnected global economy.


Why Europe remains the centre of gravity


Europe has been (and remains) the natural home for Group Treasury Headquarters. Reasons are structural:


• Mature banking ecosystems and highly regulated governance environments

• Deep pools of specialised treasury and risk talent

• Political stability and proximity to global decision-makers

• Leading universities, financial hubs and corporates


It is no coincidence that companies such as Nestlé, Roche, Novartis, Unilever, Siemens and BASF continue to centralise global cash, liquidity policy, FX management, and capital markets strategy in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK.


Why Asia holds the future of business expansion


Conversely, Asia and the Middle East have become indispensable as the operational and commercial engines of global companies.


The drivers are equally clear:


• Supply chain concentration

• Growing middle-class consumer markets

• Accelerating regional manufacturing depth

• Shifting global trade flows

• Competitive operating costs


This dynamic has led to the rise of local and regional treasury centres in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta, Dubai and Hong Kong, supporting cash execution, liquidity pooling, shared-service structures, bank relationship management, and regulatory compliance.


A long list of global organisations already exemplifies this dual-hub structure, including Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Honeywell, GE, and Shell.


Asian companies are now building the same architecture


This trend is no longer driven only by Western multinationals.

Asian enterprises are rapidly adopting European governance models — often reversing the traditional flow by situating strategic functions closer to European finance centres.


One such example is LEM, a Swiss-listed industrial technology leader headquartered in Geneva with strong operational roots in China and extensive expansion in Asia-Pacific manufacturing and sales. LEM’s dual positioning demonstrates what the next decade will look like: companies that operate globally, but anchor talent and decision-making where governance, expertise, and long-term scaling make most sense.


Where expertise matters: Beyond geography, into execution


Having worked across both regions, I have seen how this model succeeds and why it also fails.


My shared insight is simple: Europe sets the policy; Asia delivers the business. Success comes only when both sides speak the same operational language.


The missing link: aligned partners across continents


While treasury functions are structured globally, service partners rarely are.

Recruitment is sourced locally, consultants are engaged regionally, and internal execution teams struggle to align between time zones, service cultures, and regulatory frameworks.


This misalignment translates to:


• Delays in transformation projects

• Suboptimal hiring decisions due to a lack of contextual understanding

• Failure to capture APAC nuance in Europe-driven programme design

• Talent mismatches, particularly at the interface of shared services and HQ governance


For corporates with multiple treasury decision centres, the implicit business question is increasingly:


Why work with fragmented partners when your treasury model is unified?


Europe + Asia is not a slogan : it is the future of treasury


We believe that the most successful treasury organisations of the next decade will:


• Govern globally from Europe

• Execute regionally in Asia

• Staff and design talent strategies that reflect both worlds

• Establish consistent recruitment, advisory, digitalisation and risk frameworks across continents


Large groups have already reached this point.

Mid-cap and high-growth companies will follow rapidly, and they are searching for partners who understand both systems, not just one.


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• Alexandra Lasserre, founder of Treasury Recruitment Hub, (Switzerland) built her network by supporting senior treasury leadership roles across Switzerland and broader EMEA markets, particularly where global headquarters required recruitment calibrated to local expertise and international stakes.


• Marvin Dharmawan, founder of Momentum-DFT, (Indonesia) brings hands-on advisory experience from Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and APAC, designing treasury structures, risk frameworks, and cash processes that speak both corporate and regional realities.


We are committed to advancing that conversation, sharing our learnings, and supporting the next generation of global treasury structures, wherever they are built.



 
 
 

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