REGIONAL TREASURY CENTRES IN SOUTH EAST ASIA – CASE ...

Management, Vol. 14, 2009, 1, pp. 77-101P. Polak, R. R. Roslan: Regional treasury centres in South East Asia – The case of Brunei…Discussion of each result of LC found is focused on whether Brunei cancompete with the other two countries, which are currently the leading locationsfor RTCs. Results of LC with quantitative data (LCn 1 – LCn 7) are discussedfirst, followed by the analysis of criteria LCn 8 to LCn 11 (based on qualitativedata).Table 15. Assessment of quantitative LCNo.Location Criterion(LCn)Brunei Singapore Hong Kong1 Monthly bank fees Highest Middle Lowest2 Bank transaction fees Middle Lowest Highest3Price for foreignincoming paymentHighest Middle Lowest4Price for foreignoutgoing paymentHighest Lowest Middle5Urgent foreign paymentspriceMiddle Lowest Highest6 Withholding tax Highest Middle Lowest7 Corporate tax Highest Middle Lowest8Important treasurycentresNone Existing RTCs Existing RTCs9 Reporting requirements Minimal Minimal Minimal10 Currency environment 1 bank 3 banks 3 banks11 Ratings N/A Best BestNotes: Highest – LCn with the highest figure, Middle – LCn with not the highest or the lowestfigure, Lowest – LCn with the lowest figure.7.1. Discussion of quantitative data results (LCn 1 – LCn 7)Table 16 represents assessment of the three countries, regarding theunfavorable LC values. For LCn 1 – LCn 7, the target is to minimize the highfigures for each country. In order to assess competitiveness of Brunei’s currentcondition for hosting RTC, it is easily demonstrated that the country currentlyholds 71.4% of the unfavorable ranks significant for a suitable location of aRTC. Hong Kong has 28.6% of such LC ranks, while Singapore has none.93