Merck Scoops Adam Smith Award for ‘Harnessing the Power of Technology’

Merck & Co., Inc, the global research-driven pharmaceutical company, has won the Treasury Today Adam Smith Award for Best Practice and Innovation in 2008 for the category ‘Harnessing the Power of Technology’. Announced on 19th June 2008, the win came about as a result of Merck’s implementation of Wallstreet Suite.   The treasury and cash management solution has enabled Merck to transform its worldwide treasury operations by reducing its cash management bank relationships from 100 to just three and significantly decreasing interface costs and bank fees. Wallstreet Suite manages a complex treasury operation for Merck that entails the management of pools, funding, loans and inter-company lending, as well as cross-border payments.     Joergen Jensen, director of corporate solutions, commented: “Our aim is to help our clients improve their operations, and Merck is a prime example of how we have achieved this. We see this award as a testament to the continuous development of our solutions.”     The aim of the awards is to recognise outstanding achievement in solutions within the corporate treasury environment, which demonstrate best practice and/or innovation. Richard Parkinson, managing director of Treasury Today said: “The judging criteria for these awards are tough and the competition was extremely strong. Winning entries

needed to demonstrate tangible results in the form of cost savings and above average ROI, through to exceptional implementation and quantitative improvements in efficiency. To have won this award is therefore a significant accolade for Merck working in partnership with Wallstreet.”