Partner Interview Nomentia | Best-of-breed cash & treasury management solutions

10-11-2020 | treasuryXL | Nomentia |

It has been a crazy year for OpusCapita with a lot of positive changes. OpusCapita recently joined forces with Analyste and merged into Nomentia.

Nomentia is a Nordic powerhouse for global cash management. By believing in a world in which businesses can make the right decisions no matter how unpredictable the times are, their SaaS-based platform offers solutions for cash forecasting & visibility, global payments with bank connectivity, reconciliation, in-house banking, guarantees, and FX dealing. Nomentia currently serves 2,300+ clients in over 100 countries processing more than 200 billion euros annually.

AN INTRODUCTION TO…

 

Meet Jukka Sallinen , Deputy CEO at Nomentia.

Jukka is a cash management domain expert with a strong hands-on background from international and complex payment factory and SWIFT projects. Previously Jukka had been working in various R&D roles, focusing on bank and ERP integrations and security topics.

” We are the bridge between finance and treasury ”

 

 

We asked him 9 questions. Let’s go!

INTERVIEW

1. Nomentia, what is the core business and what is its mission??

Our vision is to create solutions that make the life of modern CFO’s and Treasurers easier. We provide best-of-breed cash and treasury solutions that are the bridge between Finance and Treasury. Best-of-breed means that we focus on challenges that matter for modern CFO’s and treasurers to stay ahead of the curve and help their business to prosper.

We solve the challenges that professionals face in their daily work:

End-to-end & total visibility of cash flows is ever important. By visibility we of course mean visibility to cash flows, bank accounts, payments and future cash flows. But today, visibility is also more and more a risk & compliance related challenge. To whom I am going to pay? How do I mitigate the risk of fraud? Another visibility challenge is the whole topic of working capital where cash & liquidity forecasting & analytics solutions will play a role.

While visibility could be classified as internal challenge an example of external challenge Treasurers are facing is financial crime which is globally a trillion-dollar industry. Payment fraud and cybercrime faced by corporates remains significant and growing problem. To fight back corporates are mitigating these risks by harmonizing bank connectivity & payments into a centralized payment hub.

Finally, finance organizations seeking for return of investments from their Treasury or Finance solutions typically look increasing automation and efficiency in financial processes. Automating & harmonizing bank statement processing and accounts receivable reconciliation (automatic matching) holds typically largest savings potential.

By focusing on these challenges that matter to modern CFO and Treasurers, Nomentia is different. Monolithic finance and treasury systems are not quick and flexible enough to face the challenges of today and thus remain largely un-used.

2. OpusCapita recently formed a new company together with Analyste. What was the main reason for this? 

There is a growing need for choosing best-of-breed cloud solutions to solve particular business challenges today’s organizations are facing, which cannot be addressed by traditional monolithic tools. And treasury and finance organizations are no different. We are in a journey to create a leading cloud native cash management company as one.

3. What constitutes this Nordic powerhouse?

We took the best practices of both companies and combined them into one integrated solution for Finance and Treasury professionals. Nowadays, companies need multiple tools and systems. Is anyone convinced that the trend would go backwards? I mean look at your mobile phone. More apps keep coming and we as consumers add more. As business consumers we don’t want to be different, right?

A modern company needs a sales and customer relationship management, marketing automation tools, billing systems, project management tools, HR systems and various business solutions – and Finance & Treasury are no different. Often at some point we fall into the trap of looking for one platform to solve all challenges. But there never will be one, because we cannot possibly know everything a platform needs to solve to adapt in changing business environment. You end up using only small fraction of such monolithic platform with a very high price tag or building very customized solutions.

4.You talk about best-of-breed, what does it mean and what is the customer benefit?

Now, what does this mean for treasury and cash? A one-for-all solution would be a single solution to solve all your finance & treasury & cash management issues. That at least used to be sort of IT’s dream come true. One can clearly see benefits such as having less systems to integrate or less business partners to deal with. Also, commonly heard argument is to claim you would have “all the data at your hand in one place” which often shrinks into a mere sales argument.

While choosing best-of-breed companies can build network of integrated products and solutions. Benefits are often ones like paying and implementing only what you really need, much quicker implementation time and thus quick payback time, more standard features and no customization and vendor locking. Even the integration – a classical tarpit in IT projects – is often surprisingly simple because best of breed providers works very well together

Treasury or Finance is not an island. It is not the treasury that really is changing but the world around it. How companies are purchasing goods, sales are becoming digital, buying journey shifting to marketplaces and technology and software connecting everyone and concerning almost any business will sure keep changing the work that needs to be done by Treasury and Finance teams. Our claim is that networks and best-of-breed is more adapted to change.

5. How does the customer journey look like from start till end? And how long does a project take?

This really depends on the customers and their needs and how their internal processes look as well. We adjust to our customers’ needs.

6. Can you give us an outlook on the product developments that are scheduled?

The most important achievement is that we’ve now released our first versions from next generation Nomentia products that are based on a modern cloud architecture. We have been working on for the last four to five years to come up with the next generation – which is by the way already fifth generation if we look how our products have evolved from 80’s. Our customers should expect a whole new user experience from all our applications as many modules have not only got a completely new front end in HTML5 but a backend and business logic as well.

One of the new developments our customers should be looking carefully is that we are bringing better productized analytics capabilities to our next generation product as we speak. With analytics capabilities we mean payment behavior analytics and statistics, performance analysis and working capital related key performance indicators.

7. What has been your best experience in your career at OpusCapita, now Nomentia?

Next spring shall mark me already fifteen years in the company. Both OpusCapita and Analyste had gone such an exciting journey first as an independent company and then as part of larger enterprises, and finally again independent but together. It’s hard for me to rank all the memories I’ve collected with such a fantastic team and individuals that have participated into this journey. However, I still do remember with warmth some of the early development projects that helped us to become more international, such as joining to SWIFT Lite 2 program as global early adopters in 2013. And of course, winning the hearts of first global customers for the new service back then.

I’ve always got inspiration from challenging projects, working with new technology, and working to productize something that no one has done before. I feel that our employees at Nomentia are in a privileged position, since we work with such an exciting customer base and deliver software for so critical processes.

8. What has been the biggest success story of OpusCapita, now Nomentia, so far?

Although both Analyste and OpusCapita  have their roots in early 80’s we’re truly living the moments of biggest success right now. The company has never been filled with such a talented people, have such great solutions, and finally a market position to grow and create a European (or rather global) Fintech success story.

9. The year is 2025, what have been the OpusCapita/Nomentia successes over the last years?

The world of CFO and Treasurer is changing probably faster than never. Our five-year plan is obviously to grow significantly, which means double-digit revenue growth year-on-year. Much of our growth comes from international markets where I would expect us to cement our positions in several new markets as a viable and market leading choice of a modern CFO.

We will be significantly larger and stronger European Fintech company than we are today. When it comes to successes, I believe it is all about the journey rather than single events. We must work hard every day to win our customers hearts, and to have an atmosphere where employees find it exciting to wake up every Monday and be a part of our success story. Work hard, learn something new every day, and do it with a smile, and the journey will reward you.

 

Which funding will be best for Entrepreneur Bert? (dutch item)

| 09-11-2020 | Stichting MKB Financiering | treasuryXL

Ben je ondernemer met plannen en ideeën? Wil je uitbreiden, groeien, investeren? Wat let je? Goede plannen verdienen het om uitgevoerd te worden. Immers, een goed plan levert rendement op. Je weet precies wat je wil en je weet wat het effect zal zijn van de investeringen. Nog één ding even regelen: de financiering. Want de vraag is: krijg je de financiering rond en zo ja bij welke geldverstrekker en tegen welke voorwaarden? En hoe belangrijk is de prijs?


Wat is de best passende financiering?

Ondernemers met een financieringsvraag doen er goed aan om tijd en rust te nemen om naast de goede investeringsbeslissing óók de beste financieringsbeslissing te nemen. De vraag is: wat is de best passende financiering? We zijn gemakkelijk geneigd te kijken naar de prijs, maar is dat het beste beslissingscriterium?

De context bepaalt

Een voorbeeld, je wilt een fiets kopen, splinternieuw. Je hebt de keuze uit twee modellen: model I is een stadsfiets van € 950, model II is een tourfiets van € 3.450. Welke kies je? Zonder nadere specificatie is die keuze niet te maken. Het maakt nogal verschil of je de fiets 1x per week gebruikt om wat boodschappen te halen, of dat je dagelijks 30 km naar je werk op en neer fietst. De modellen I en II zijn beide een fiets, maar als product zijn de verschillen groot. De context bepaalt mede welke fiets je koopt en welk bedrag je uiteindelijk besteedt.

Prijs alleen is niet belangrijk

Bij het aantrekken van een lening is dat niet anders. Het verschil van aanbieders vertaalt zich niet alleen in de prijs (de te betalen rente), maar ook in bedrag, looptijd, voorwaarden, zekerheden en snelheid van proces.

Kijk ook naar de voorwaarden

Een voorbeeld: Bert heeft de keuze uit twee leningen van € 500.000. Financier I vraagt 3,5% rente, Financier II vraagt 6,5% rente. Waarom zou Bert überhaupt de dure lening II overwegen? We kijken naar de voorwaarden:

Lening I Lening II
Hoofdsom € 500.000 € 500.000
Rente 3,5% 6,5%
Aflossing 60 maanden 60 maanden
Vervroegd aflossen Boeterente Boetevrij
Zekerheden Verpanding inventaris
Verpanding voorraad
Verpanding debiteuren
Verpanding creditgelden
Medeschuldenaar: holding Bert
Borgstelling: Bert privé  € 125.000		 Geen zekerheden
Duur aanvraagprocedure 7 weken 1 week

Bij Lening I zijn Bert, zijn Holding en de werkmaatschappij met handen en voeten gebonden. Als het ooit fout loopt, is hij privé aansprakelijk en zal ok zijn personal Holding worden aangesproken. Bij Lening II betaalt hij wel meer rente, maar daar staat tegenover dat hij persoonlijk geen enkel risico loopt. Voor de “afkoop” van dat persoonlijk risico betaalt hij een premie van 3% extra rente. Is het dat waard?

Keuze van financiering is persoonlijk 

Dat is een persoonlijke afweging. Een gevoelsmatige afweging. Dát is de context waarbinnen een ondernemer een financieringsbeslissing neemt. Voor Bert was de keuze eenvoudig: rust en vrijheid zijn hem extra rente waard. Lening I is in feite een volstrekt ander product als lening II. Een ander product heeft een andere prijs, net zoals bij het eerdere voorbeeld van de fietsen. Bert kan zich de luxe van Lening II veroorloven.

 

Bron

What is remittance?

05-11-2020 | treasuryXL | XE |

Remittance payments, which are essentially sending money home, are easier than ever when you choose Xe.

In a nutshell, payment remittances are expatriates sending part or all of their foreign wages to friends or family back home. Technically, remittance can be defined as any such payments, whether or not the money crosses an international border. But in almost all cases, when people talk about money remittances, they are talking about financial transfers, usually wages, from a developed country to a developing country.

Many people are surprised to learn that developing nations receive more capital from money remittances than from any other source. For example, in 2018, low- and middle-income countries received about $345 billion USD in foreign aid and foreign investment. Financial remittances to these countries exceeded $525 billion USD.

Most of these remittances were transfers to individuals. Many countries, most notably India, China, and the Philippines, have large overseas diasporas. Additionally, many companies have more international connections than ever, making remittances more common.

When you choose a remittance of funds provider, convenience, cost, and security are usually the three most important factors. Xe remittances feature all these things. Our online portal, which features bank-grade security, is available to account-holders 24/7/365. Furthermore, we do not charge additional fees for many electronic transfers to one of the 130+ countries we are connected to.

What should you know about remittances?

The aforementioned convenience is the biggest remittance pro. Many transfers require only a few minutes. Additionally, the currency transfer is usually seamless. The sender transfers native currency, and the recipients usually gets the funds in native currency.

Largely because of the high volume of remittance transfers, there are occasionally calls for better regulation. Since many international transfers are under the radar, remittances are a popular tool for money launderers and terrorist financiers. For these reasons, FinTech companies like Xe keep a close eye on transfers to multiple different recipients or transfers to organizations instead of individuals.

On a related note, many people send money to groups, or join groups, which have hidden sinister agendas. Technically, these links run afoul of American and international laws and standards. But if your affiliation is tied to one specific aspect of that group, such as its support for refugees, you are typically okay.

High fees for small transfers are an issue as well. The average provider charges over 7 percent for transfers of $200 or less. That’s significantly higher than the average fee for larger transfers. Low income families are very vulnerable in this area. Seven cents out of every dollar is not much for wealthy families, but could be a week’s worth of gasoline for a poor family.

In addition to the fee, many countries directly tax remittance payments. These rules obviously vary significantly in different places. Additionally, even if the remittance is a gift, it is normally taxable income.

Understanding the Terms and Conditions

We won’t deny it: financial language can get a little dry. Frequently, remittance transfer agreements involve so much technical jargon that they appear to be in a different language. Here are some common remittance terms and what they mean:

  • ABA Number

    All American banks, and most foreign banks, have nine digit codes used in electronic transfers. If you do not know the ABA number, a/k/a the routing number, ask Google. You might also need your account number, and if you don’t know that, you’ll probably need to visit a branch in person.

  • AML

    As mentioned, money laundering is a serious problem in this area. So, many institutions have Anti Money Laundering protocols. These protocols usually involve transfer limits and transaction verification.

  • KYC

    Similarly, many institutions have Know Your Customer protocols. Common KYC items include text message verification, username/password authentication, and security questions, like your mother’s maiden name.

  • Recall

    If you transfer funds in error, it’s technically possible to cancel the transaction and retrieve the money. But the process is complex and there are no guarantees. So it’s best to get it right the first time.

The more comfortable you are with the lingo, the easier it is to send a remittance abroad.

How to send a remittance

Cash pickup, usually through a company like Western Union, electronic transfers, usually through a FinTech like Xe, and bank transfers are the most common forms of remittance payments.

In terms of the infrastructure, most remittances use Society for Worldwide International Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) or Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). Most cash and bank transfers use the SWIFT network. These transfers often involve a third party. These third parties do not work for free, so the fee could be higher. Xe and other online institutions normally use EFT transfers. Generally, these transfers are much more direct.

Cash pickup is usually the fastest and cheapest way to remit money overseas. It’s also the most cumbersome and least convenient way. Most recipients can only use cash for some in-person transactions. And, transferees must always travel somewhere to receive their money. On the other hand, bank transfers are extremely convenient. However, they are only available to certain people.

On the plus side, cash and bank transfers normally accept many different payment methods, such as cash, credit/debit card, cash, money order, wire transfer, or even personal check. These options normally require face-to-face transfers, as such payment methods are difficult or impossible to use online.

Xe remittances essentially combine the low cost and fast speed of cash transfers with the convenience of bank transfers. That combination makes Xe an excellent way to send money overseas.

 

Get in touch with XE.com

About XE.com

XE can help safeguard your profit margins and improve cashflow through quantifying the FX risk you face and implementing unique strategies to mitigate it. XE Business Solutions provides a comprehensive range of currency services and products to help businesses access competitive rates with greater control.

Deciding when to make an international payment and at what rate can be critical. XE Business Solutions work with businesses to protect bottom-line from exchange rate fluctuations, while the currency experts and risk management specialists act as eyes and ears in the market to protect your profits from the world’s volatile currency markets.

Your company money is safe with XE, their NASDAQ listed parent company, Euronet Worldwide Inc., has a multi billion-dollar market capitalization, and an investment grade credit rating. With offices in the UK, Canada, Europe, APAC and North America they have a truly global coverage.

Are you curious to know more about XE?
Maurits Houthoff, senior business development manager at XE.com, is always in for a cup of coffee, mail or call to provide you detailed information.

 

 

Visit XE.com

Visit XE partner page

 

 

 

treasuryXL announces collaboration with Treasury Delta

| 5-11-2020 | treasuryXL | Treasury Delta | VENLO, The Netherlands, November 5, 2020 – treasuryXL, the community platform for everyone who is active in the world of treasury, and Treasury Delta, an Irish FinTech company, which has brought to market an innovative platform that uses digital technology to connect companies, banks and treasury management […]

Read more

Kyriba Webinar: Modernising Global Corporate Payments to Prevent Fraud

04-11-2020 | treasuryXL | Kyriba |

These last few months have highlighted that Payments Fraud continues to be a major problem, with fraudsters quick to leverage the global pandemic, with the amounts involved considerable.

In this session Kyriba’s Paul Simpson will be joined by Helen Alexander from SWIFT and James Bushby from MasterCard, to explain what institutional payment fraud is, with a specific focus on the technology and processes that treasury and finance teams can employ to minimise risk.

In particular, the agenda will follow:

  • What institutional payment fraud is and the internal processes and technology to consider, with SWIFT
  • How a payment hub mitigates against Fraud for Corporates, with Kyriba
  • Introduction to how MasterCard is helping fight Financial Crime

Register your place by filling in the form to your right and we will be in touch!

Date:

November 12th, 09:30- 10:30 (CET)

Contact:

Partner Interview Series | The deeper dive with Treasury Intelligence Solutions (TIS)

03-11-2020 | treasuryXL | TIS |

2020 is a special year in so many ways. For our partner TIS it has been a great year with an expansion of the BENELUX team and a realisation of a double digit growth.

In this interview we will take the deeper dive with TIS Benelux. What have been the greatest successes in the BENELUX? What are the biggest changes in this market? How do you see the future of corporate payments?

TIS (Treasury Intelligence Solutions GmbH), founded in Walldorf, Germany in 2010, is a global leader in managing corporate payments. The Financial Times named TIS as one of “Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies” for 2019 and 2020. Offered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), the TIS solution is a comprehensive, highly-scalable, cloud platform for company-wide payments and cash management.

AN INTRODUCTION TO

Meet Aderito Duarte, Sales Executive at TIS and responsible for new business in the BENELUX region.

Aderito has spent over 10 years in the SaaS industry working for different vendors in various sales (leadership) roles, both in local and international markets. He is an ambitious sales professional with a record of over-achievement and demonstrated success in a highly competitive market.

He has a strong background in new business sales and relationship building. Performance, development and contribution are the key words that drive his career and enable him to mobilize the team, partners, clients and prospects.

We asked him 7 questions. Let’s go!

INTERVIEW

1. What is your background and why did you decide to join TIS (Treasury Intelligence Solutions)?

For very long time I worked as a sales executive for large organizations like ADP, Oracle and SAP.  Then I decided it was time for something different, something more agile and more entrepreneurial. At TIS I can act as a true entrepreneur and always put my customers first. I contribute to my customers’ success while having fun and developing myself together with other colleagues from the Benelux Team. I cannot wish for more.

2. Tell us briefly about TIS, its solution and the most important benefits for your customers.

TIS was founded in 2010 in Walldorf, Germany. Its core offering is a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service platform for corporate payments and cash management. Currently there are about 180 colleagues working from six offices globally including Germany, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, and USA. The TIS solution has been successfully used for many years in both large and medium-sized companies, including Adecco Group, Hugo Boss, Fresenius, Fugro, LANXESS, OSRAM and QIAGEN. More than 25% of DAX companies are already TIS customers. Working with TIS allows customers to significantly reduce cost and manual effort in their payment processes. The risk of manual errors can be mitigated, and treasury teams are freed up to direct their attention to more strategic and value-adding tasks. The TIS platform creates an end-to-end payment experience by connecting to virtually any ERP system and any bank with an extensive payment format library. Instead of a plethora of different E-banking tools, all payments can be made securely through one platform, anytime, anywhere. With such consolidation of payments and accounts information, the clients can have a centralized overview of real-time cash visibility.

3. What have been your greatest successes in BENELUX?

Looking at 2020, a year full of challenges for us all, I am very proud that we will realize double digit growth.  Next to that we are building a diverse team with different competences and skills to serve our customers’ needs. Another important aspect to the TIS Benelux success is the strong partner community we are building to support our customers in the region. For example, recently we formed a new partnership with Cashforce and extended our partnership with Orchard Finance.  Above all these achievements, the feedback we receive from customers in the Benelux explains why we received the 2019 TMI award for outstanding customer experience. For example, Simon Karregat, Group Treasurer at Fugro NV says: “With TIS, we have a central overview of worldwide payments, and now just use one platform instead of different banking tools. This enables us to embed our payment transactions within our ERP landscape and realize straight-through processing.” It is always our top priority to generate true business value for our clients.

4. What in your opinion are some of the biggest changes in this market in BENELUX?

Recently we have received many questions from both Treasurers and IT professionals concerning the digitalization or streamlining of the corporate payment process in the big context of the S/4HANA migration. When it comes to SAP (ECC) ERP migration to SAP S/4HANA, there have been a lot of initiatives in the organizations to guarantee a smooth and on-schedule move. The area of corporate payments is a critical part in this migration due to its impact on the group-wide business continuity. It is important to understand customers current needs and determine the appropriate S/4HANA migration scenarios. For that, TIS has published a Whitepaper to help our customers understand the complexity of such migration and the importance of choosing specialist vendors such as TIS in order to maximize the win with SAP S/4HANA.

Another trend we see is, people are working more from home and need the right tools to manage payments, location independently, which potentially increases the risk of fraud. Our view is that payment security is a much broader topic than just payment fraud. Therefore, payment fraud prevention or detection can only be a meaningful exercise when it is an integral part of a company’s overall payment security strategy. While it is not necessary to centralize all the actual payments’ process to prevent fraud, it is key to bring all functions and information together using a single payments’ gateway. Here you can read more how the TIS platform supports our customers to protect their organizations from payment fraud.

5. The world is changing rapidly especially in financial services, how does TIS stay one step ahead of its competitors?

Our solutions are based on a deep understanding of the market, the customer’s needs and our continuously updated vision for the future. Ten years ago, when TIS was founded, there was almost no bank-agnostic payments platform that allowed Treasurers to manage all accounts, transactions, and balances from one platform. Treasurers lacked transparency and cash visibility to make informed decisions. In-house solutions were expensive and time-consuming to develop. Joerg Wiemer, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of TIS, was then the SVP and Head of Global Treasury at SAP. He knew the problem inside and out because he was living that problem every day. When the company was founded, the market was still skeptical about using a cloud solution for payments. However, Joerg and Erol Bozak (cofounder and Chief Product Officer of TIS) believed that cloud was the answer to corporate payments and cash management with its high scalability, fast roll-out and a centralized overview regardless of the complexity of a company’s payments landscape. As many treasury teams all over the world are working from home nowadays, a cloud-based payments platform has been proven to be a blessing to our customers who have confirmed to us that they did not have to make significant changes to their payments processes. Meanwhile TIS continuously grows its payment format library, connects to more banks worldwide, and invests heavily in adding meaningful innovations to the platform.

6. In 5 years from now, how will TIS look like?

In 2019 and 2020, two years in a row TIS has been named by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s fastest growing companies. In 2019, the total payment transaction volume of the company was more than that of PayPal. We believe that the demand for agile, flexible and scalable cloud-based payments platform will only grow. This year May, TIS received $20 million additional funding from renowned technology venture funds. We are planning to use this funding to accelerate product development and to further scale operations in Europe and in the US, in order to meet growing international demand. It is hard to predict the future, but I would say in five years from now, TIS will grow its footprint in more regions and it will play a much bigger role in the ecosystem beyond corporate payments.

7. What is TIS’ vision for the future of corporate payments?

Rather than one-stop finance solutions, the future of corporate payments lies in Best-of-Breed solutions. We can observe this trend in the consumer market, where consumers expect to pick and choose from solutions that best meet their needs. In corporate payments, this is still a fairly new concept, however, one with great promise. Corporates get the best products and services in the market that are enabled through APIs, most importantly, that fit best to their specific corporate needs. This new Best-of-Breed ecosystem will also allow corporates to share data more easily with their business partners, helping them achieve better information sharing and service offering.

If you want to learn how TIS can help you gain cash visibility and full control over your payments, please reach out to me via [email protected] or request a demo at www.tis.biz/en.

Alternative Risk Finance Part 3 – Cell Company 101

| 02-11-2020 | Mark Roelands | treasuryXL

The introduction to a most utilized form and key alternative to a traditional captive

As described in this series: an in-house insurer can be of great added value to your company. In the current hard insurance market, the possibility to utilize an own vehicle instead of the turbulent market is a direct and tangible benefit. But it is not a free alternative, the cost of setup of an insurer and operating it in a compliant manner might be too high to generate an overall positive business case. That issue is being addressed in utilising a centralised facility taking care of a.o. most of capitalisation and compliance matters, while the risk taker can operate an in-house insurer. This light-weight route is what can be named a “Cell Company”.

A Protected Cell Company, Incorporated Cell Company, Segregated Accounts Company, Segregated Portfolio Company are all different names for a centralised facility each buidling on local legislation, which we will collectively name “Cell Companies”.

In this part of the series of Alternative Risk Financing the generalised concept of a Cell Company is described.

Structure explained

Where a fully-owned captive insurance entity imposes the full requirements on the parent company, the Cell Company utilises a centralised facility, a “Core”, which provides the infrastructure to be leveraged by multiple insurance entities. In the illustration the full hexagon is the Cell Company, with the Core representing the infrastructure.

The Small grey hexagons represent the Cells, which are segregated units within the facility and which belong to a specific client. Assets and Liabilities and legally segregated from other Cells and the Core. Cell A will for instance belong to Company A, while Cell B belongs to Company B. In most Cell Company structures the number of cells is not limited to 8 but is practically unlimited. In order to generate the segregation a split is made between Cellular Assets and Cellular Liabilies (the A-H hexagons) and non-cellular assets and liabilities (The Core).


Owning Cell A will enable a client to participate in an insurance program in a compliant manner, while building on the centralised facility which provides both a compliant governance structure, as well as the required capital amount.

As an individual client a key requirement however is to fund the ‘risk gap’, any open underwriting exposure being retained by the Cell needs to be collateralised somehow. Either via a guarantee. Letter of Credit, Capital or perhaps reinsuring more of the cover. This also ensures that each cell is able to sustain itself.

Key question: Is it safe?

Leveraging on the infrastructure of another company, which also facilitates other companies raises the obvious question: is it safe? Are my funds secure, and can I be held liable for the liabilities of other companies?In short: Yes it is safe … but …it builds on carefully drafted agreements, hence careful due diligence is required.

Basically, it comes down to default legislation of the domicile involved. In the Netherlands for instance there is no separate legal form of a Cell Company, and legal segregation critical fort he structure cannot be achieved. In Malta the for instance the “Cell Companies Act” recognizes the type of entity and segregation involved. A recent Montana case also recognized the structure including legal segregation.

Domiciliation

As mentioned several times, in order to make use of a Cell Company, legislation needs to be in place recognizing this particular form of a captive. Domiciliation is one of the the key considerations when an alternative risk finance structure is considered, as has been explain in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

In the Netherlands the required legislation for a Cell Company is not available. Within Europe therefore either Malta, Guernsey, Isle of Man or Gibraltar needs to be utilised. With Malta having the edge being within the EU. Ireland and Luxemburg have hinted on establishing Cell Company legislation as well, but Brexit (and moving insurance companies into these domiciles) has shifted supervisory priorities and no information has been published on any plans for a few years now. While Vermont is often the go to domicile within the US, there are more States with Cell Company legislation like Montana. Establishing a Cell Company close to an office of your company could be regarded to be beneficial. Vermont however does have an extensive captive servicing industry which is also a benefit.

Within Asia Vanuatu or Labuan would be interesting domiciles and the popular captive domiciles of Bermuda and Cayman Islands also both enable Cell Companies, and both have a solid supporting industry. This however needs to pass tax requirements in the organisation.

What’s next?

In Part 1 and Part 2 Captive Insurance and Building the Business Case is described. A Cell Company can possibly allow a business case to be positive, as the cost of operating and capitalising the Company is much lower then a fully-owned Solvency II compliant Insurance company. For building the business case please review Part 2, but when considering a Cell Company also take the following into consideration:

  • Due diligence on the Cell Company itself
  • Lock-in effects with a facility provider: brokers and insurers provide the facilities, but there are also some independent facility providers

This may unlock the potential for an in-house insurer allowing you to pool your risks centrally and finance them in the most efficient manner, while operating in the most light weight manner.

Check my previous blogs of this serie:

  1. Alternative Risk Finance in a hardening insurance market
  2. Alternative Risk Finance Part 2 – Building the Business Case

 

 

Mark Roelands

Risk and Compliance Specialist

 

 

US Election: how would Democratic and Republican victories impact the US dollar?

29-10-2020 | treasuryXL | XE |

Regardless of the winner, there will be motion in the currency markets. Are you prepared?

In just one week, the 2020 United States presidential election will draw to a close.

While many are making their predictions based on recent polling data, as time has shown (just look at the 2016 election), the polls are not definite, and the United States could conceivably see a victory for either Biden or Trump.

Whatever the result of the election may be, it will likely cause movement in the currency markets, and lead to changes in the value of the US dollar (and potentially other world currencies as well).

Volatility in the currency markets can dramatically impact individuals and businesses alike. Are you prepared for what could happen?

How will a Biden win affect the dollar?

In our previous post on the topic, here’s what we had to say:

Traditional wisdom would dictate that a Biden victory could lead to huge spending and tax increases which could see the Dollar weaken further, however many now believe that a safe and stable pair of hands for the US recovery from the COVID pandemic may just be the thing the Dollar needs to rebound.

Even today, you’ll see conflicting forecasts regarding a Biden victory. Some maintain that a Biden victory will lead to a drop in the dollar’s value. Earlier this month, the dollar fell to a nearly three-week low (its second straight week of downward motion), with many attributing its drop to increasing expectations of a Biden victory. Others believe that the greater uncertainty toward the Biden administration’s attitude toward the dollar may result in greater volatility.

However, others have stated that a Biden victory would be the “best possible outcome” for the dollar seeing as, between 1980 and 2016 (but excluding the 1984 and 2008 elections), the dollar rose an average of 4% following Democratic victory, as opposed to the average 2% jumps when Republicans were victorious. Additionally, many investors are reducing their bets on extreme currency market volatility in the event of a Biden victory.

What will happen to the Dollar if Trump wins?

After Trump’s victory in the 2016 election, the dollar did rise, and some predict that it will do so again. However, the US dollar Index has dropped more than 7% since his inauguration in 2017. Yet on the other hand, as stated above, the dollar does tend to strengthen immediately following a US presidential election, regardless of who wins (in fact, only 1 of the 10 elections since 1980 saw a drop). Many still predict a stronger dollar following a Trump victory, due to the administration’s support for fiscal stimulus as well as the fact that there would be less uncertainty in reelecting Trump over electing a new president.

What else?

Due to the much higher-than-usual frequency of mail-in ballots and early voting during this particular election, it’s possible that the winner will not be announced on Tuesday November 3, and will be delayed by a few days or more. A delayed announcement or a contested winner would extend the period of uncertainty, and almost certainly lead to a fall for the dollar.

 

Get in touch with XE.com

About XE.com

XE can help safeguard your profit margins and improve cashflow through quantifying the FX risk you face and implementing unique strategies to mitigate it. XE Business Solutions provides a comprehensive range of currency services and products to help businesses access competitive rates with greater control.

Deciding when to make an international payment and at what rate can be critical. XE Business Solutions work with businesses to protect bottom-line from exchange rate fluctuations, while the currency experts and risk management specialists act as eyes and ears in the market to protect your profits from the world’s volatile currency markets.

Your company money is safe with XE, their NASDAQ listed parent company, Euronet Worldwide Inc., has a multi billion-dollar market capitalization, and an investment grade credit rating. With offices in the UK, Canada, Europe, APAC and North America they have a truly global coverage.

Are you curious to know more about XE?
Maurits Houthoff, senior business development manager at XE.com, is always in for a cup of coffee, mail or call to provide you detailed information.

 

 

Visit XE.com

Visit XE partner page

 

 

 

Appropriate funding, where do you get it? (Dutch item)

| 26-10-2020 | Stichting MKB Financiering | treasuryXL

Uit het onderzoek naar de ontwikkeling van de zakelijke non-bancaire financiering in Nederland dat SMF in juni publiceerde bleek dat de omvang van de non bancaire financiering (€ 2,6 miljard) zó groot is geworden dat niet meer gesproken wordt van alternatieve financiering, maar van non-bancaire financiering. De groei vindt plaats in alle delen van de financieringsmarkt van het MKB (zowel de kleine financieringen als ook de grotere miljoenenverstrekkingen). Tevens werd geconstateerd dat met name bij de financieringsvolumes tot € 1 miljoen het volume van de bancaire financieringen jaarlijks afneemt versus een toename van non-bancaire verstrekkers. De non-bancaire financiers nemen de financieringsrol van de banken in dat segment langzaam maar zeker over.

Het aanbod van financiering is groot en divers geworden, waardoor het voor ondernemers niet altijd duidelijk is waar zij het beste een financiering kunnen aanvragen. De rol van gespecialiseerde financieringsadviseurs wordt in deze markt belangrijker. Zij kunnen de MKB ondernemer begeleiden in hun zoektocht naar financiering. In eerder gepubliceerde blogs hebben wij de verschillende aanbieders van financiering besproken. Onderstaand is een samenvattend overzicht, verdeeld over 4 groepen, opgenomen. Tenslotte is een tabel toegevoegd: dit geeft antwoord op de vraag welke aanbieders gespecialiseerd zijn in welke obligo’s (omvang van bedragen).


Voor het overzicht onderscheiden wij 4 hoofdgroepen van geldverstrekkers:

1.  Non-bancaire geldverstrekkers

Hieronder rekenen wij de financiers die onderwerp waren van het onderzoek van SMF:

  • Crowdfunding / crowd finance
  • Direct lending / investeringsplatforms
  • Kredietunies
  • Factoring
  • Leasing
  • Vastgoed financiering
  • MKB beurs

2. Keten- en transactie financieringen

Hieronder vallen allerlei (creatieve) financieringsoplossingen die partijen in de keten, binnen hun transacties, met elkaar overeenkomen.

  • Leverancierskrediet; hieronder valt niet alleen het gewone leverancierskrediet. Een leverancier kan ook in een éénmalige transactie medefinancieren d.m.v. een vendorloan (verkoop onroerend goed, verkoop onderneming, verkoop machines, etc.)
  • Afnemersfinanciering: Afnemers die vooruit betalen financieren het werkkapitaal van een onderneming.
  • Fiscus: met de fiscus kan men bij achterstand soms goede afbetalingsregelingen overeenkomen. Belangrijk is dat de fiscus “als gewone financier” volledig wordt geïnformeerd en betrokken.

3. Eigen netwerk

Ook het eigen netwerk kan een heel creatieve bron van financiering zijn. Onder deze categorie scharen wij

  • Eigen inbreng van de ondernemer
  • FFF: Family, Friends en Fans
  • WNP: Werknemersparticipatie
  • Informal investors
  • “collega” ondernemers: andere ondernemers uit het eigen netwerk die elkaar helpen

4. Overige traditionele verstrekkers

In bovenstaande categorieën zijn al enkele langer bestaande geldverstrekkers vermeld (zoals factor- en lease maatschappijen). De nog niet genoemde traditionele verstrekkers zijn

  • Banken  en
  • Participatiemaatschappijen

Wie is jouw financieringspecialist?

Het aanbod van financiering is groot. Door het grote aantal verschillende financiers is het de vraag: Wie is SPECIALIST in welk obligo? Immers, voor een financiering van € 10.000 kun je beter niet aankloppen bij een bank. Voor een financiering van € 10 miljoen moet je niet bij een Kredietunie zijn. In onderstaande tabel hebben wij d.m.v. sterren aangegeven tot welke partijen je het beste kan richten. Hierbij zij opgemerkt dat het een indicatieve indeling betreft.

Aanstal sterren

Blanco : Betreffende geldverstrekker richt zich niet of niet primair op deze obligo’s

∗ : Binnen de groep van deze geldverstrekkers zijn er (enkele) financiers te vinden die betreffende obligo’s verstrekken.
∗∗ : deze obligo’s vormen een belangrijke groep voor deze verstrekker
∗∗∗ : In deze obligo’s is de betreffende geldverstrekker een specialist

< € 50k < € 250k < € 1 mln < € 2,5 mln < € 10 mln >  € 10 mln
Non-bancair Toelichting
Crowdfunding

∗

∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗∗
Direct lening / investeringsplatforms Platforms hebben verschillende doelgroepen.
Er zijn platforms die zich beperken tot € 50.000,
er zijn platform die starten vanaf € 500.000.
Per categorie zijn er specialisten

∗∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗

∗
Kredietunie

∗∗∗

∗∗∗
Factoring Kan per factormij verschillen

∗

∗∗

∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗∗
Leasing Kan per leasemaatschappij verschillen

∗∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗

∗∗

∗
MKB Beurs

∗∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗
Vastgoedfinanciering

∗

∗∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗
Keten / transactie
Leveranciers

∗∗∗

∗∗
Afnemers

∗∗∗

∗∗
Fiscus

∗∗∗

∗∗
(Eigen) netwerk
Eigen inbreng

∗∗∗

∗∗

∗
FFF

∗∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗
WNP WNP is primair een arbeidsvoorwaarde

∗

∗

∗
Informal investors

∗∗

∗∗

∗∗

∗
Ondernemers

∗∗∗

∗∗
Traditioneel
Bank Kleine obligo’s worden met standaard-producten bediend

∗

∗

∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗∗
Participatiemaatschappijen

∗

∗∗

∗∗∗

∗∗∗

Ga voor minimaal 3 sterren

Dit overzicht sluit aan bij de gesignaleerde trend in de markt: de non-bancaire financiers zijn op dit moment in toenemende mate de specialisten voor financieringen tot € 1 miljoen en zij spelen in het segment tussen € 1 en € 2,5 miljoen een steeds belangrijkere rol. In de grotere financieringsvolumes spelen de banken vooralsnog een dominante rol.

Ben je dus op zoek naar passende financiering check het bovenstaande schema en ga dan minimaal voor 3 sterren!

www.stichtingmkbfinanciering.nl

Bron

The US Election, the Dollar, and the Pound: what’s the forecast?

22-10-2020 | treasuryXL | XE |

Currently both election polls and the betting odds predict a clear lead for Joe Biden. However, it is important to cast your mind back to the night before the 2016 election when the same polls and odds had had Hillary Clinton as the clear favourite.

The United States presidential election is just over a few weeks away. For the US citizens, these last few weeks leading up to Election Day are going to be a whirlwind.

One of the areas that this election could have a major impact is on the value of the US Dollar. Earlier events this year such as the coronavirus pandemic have already led to fluctuations in the dollar’s value, and the election of a new president—and all that comes with it—could potentially lead to more.

What’s the forecast?

Currently both election polls and the betting odds predict a clear lead for Joe Biden. However, it is important to cast your mind back to the night before the 2016 election when the same polls and odds had had Hillary Clinton as the clear favourite.

The currency markets will have priced in a Biden victory to a certain extent, and therefore should Biden manage to displace the current president we could see a relatively muted reaction. If Donald Trump manages to hold onto the White House we could expect to see a
significant unwinding of positions that were based on an assumed Biden victory.

Traditional wisdom would dictate that a Biden victory could lead to huge spending and tax increases which could see the Dollar weaken further, however many now believe that a safe and stable pair of hands for the US recovery from the COVID pandemic may just be the thing the Dollar needs to rebound.

Looking at levels, the below Reuters FX Poll shows that markets are expecting the Pound to hold steady with a weakening US Dollar showing smart money targeting a level of 1.3000 at year ending climbing to 1.3400 by mid 2021.

How should businesses respond?

Nobody knows for certain where the markets could go next, and this uncertainty and volatility can have both a negative and positive impact on company bottom line, particularly where there is an exposure to USD.

With expert guidance from Xe, your business can confidently navigate the choppy waters of financial uncertainty.

In today’s volatile foreign exchange markets, we work harder to protect your business from exchange rate fluctuation. Our solutions are designed to take the uncertainty out of global
payments so you can stay focused on running your business.

  • Market Orders
    Flexible with your transfer time? Pick a rate and transfer automatically when the market hits your desired rate.

  • Forward Contracts
    Lock in a rate for future transfers. Transfer anytime at your locked rate within 3 years.

  • FX Options & Structured FX Products
    Bespoke solutions uniquely designed for your business needs, provided by our sister company, HiFM Limited.

  • FX Risk Management
    Currency volatility impacts your business. We deliver a risk management strategy to meet your specific objectives.

Get in touch with XE.com

About XE.com

XE can help safeguard your profit margins and improve cashflow through quantifying the FX risk you face and implementing unique strategies to mitigate it. XE Business Solutions provides a comprehensive range of currency services and products to help businesses access competitive rates with greater control.

Deciding when to make an international payment and at what rate can be critical. XE Business Solutions work with businesses to protect bottom-line from exchange rate fluctuations, while the currency experts and risk management specialists act as eyes and ears in the market to protect your profits from the world’s volatile currency markets.

Your company money is safe with XE, their NASDAQ listed parent company, Euronet Worldwide Inc., has a multi billion-dollar market capitalization, and an investment grade credit rating. With offices in the UK, Canada, Europe, APAC and North America they have a truly global coverage.

Are you curious to know more about XE?
Maurits Houthoff, senior business development manager at XE.com, is always in for a cup of coffee, mail or call to provide you detailed information.

 

 

Visit XE.com

Visit XE partner page