From the Arab Spring to the Great Recession, and from the Eurozone crisis to Hurricane Maria, global events over the past decade have strained the ability of U.S.-based multinationals to ensure uninterrupted liquidity for employees and operations in remote locales.

"The last 10 years have been very interesting for anybody in international cash management," says Jim Scurlock, head of cash management for Microsoft. "We experienced a few incidents that affected our ability to move money across borders. In most cases, we saw the writing on the wall and moved our cash out early. But after repeatedly seeing similar issues in different places, we focused on reducing our cash around the world and minimizing the counterparty and sovereign risks that could threaten our liquidity."