Become the next Cash Manager with City Financials Expertise (m/f)
27-05-2020 | Treasurer Search | treasuryXL
Our partner Treasurer Search is looking for a Cash Manager with City Financials Expertise (m/f)
27-05-2020 | Treasurer Search | treasuryXL
Our partner Treasurer Search is looking for a Cash Manager with City Financials Expertise (m/f)
| 26-05-2020 | Francois De Witte
On June 15th, our Expert Francois de Witte will present a Webinar in collaboration with Febelfin-Academy, regarding Treasury Management in the COVID19 Crisis. The Webinar is in Dutch
Ten gevolge van de COVID19 zijn veel ondernemingen geconfronteerd met cash & liquiditeits problemen. Hoe ga je hiermee om? Welke tools heb je ter beschikking om dit te beheren? Hoe benader je de stakeholders incluis de banken voor bijkomende kredieten.
Deze opleiding heeft als doelstelling om inzicht te geven in:
Advanced level: biedt praktijkgerichte toepassingen op de reeds verworven theoretische kennis van de “basic level” opleidingen (uitdieping).
De opleiding kan gevolgd worden door verschillende doelgroepen:
Inleiding: Belang van cash & liquidity management
Deel 1: Tools voor het beheer van cash & liquidity management van je onderneming:
Deel 2: Tips voor het verbeteren van je cash positie:
Deel 3: Onderhandeling van uitstel vervaldagen of nieuwe kredieten bij de banken:
Deel 4: Risico’s en opportuniteiten – Actieplan:
Q & A – Coaching
26-05-2020 | Bertus van de Kamp | treasuryXL |
In the upcoming weeks, you will meet some of the treasuryXL Experts more personally. We will publish interviews, in which we reflect upon their Treasury journey , their experiences and the challenges they faced.
This week, you meet Bertus van de Kamp, Senior Business Consultant and owner of Van de Kamp Consultancy. Bertus has more than 25 years of experience as Cash management Consultant with a leading bank in the Netherlands in the Mid- and Large Corporate segment. Since a couple of years he works as an independent consultant. He underwrites the importance of a well designed and managed cash-conversion-cycle, sees the interaction with his environment as one of his strengths and is very structured in his work. Next to this he is very interested in recent developments with regard to e.g. Blockchain, Open Banking and Instant Payments.
In my over 30 year working with a Dutch bank I learned to know the Treasury business when I was active as Transaction Banker for the Corporate Market.
I really enjoyed working as Transaction Banker for Corporate Clients and advising them to get better insights in their cash and currency positions and structuring their international Trade Business.
My experience with Treasury consists mainly of advising clients on how to hedge their currency and interest risks. Next to this I provided an RFP for a client for a Treasury Management System and guided the complete selection process.
I advised companies to set up international cash pools and get more insights in their cash flow via Electronic banking platforms, Payment Hubs or Treasury Management Systems (TMS)
For a company I accompanied the selection of a TMS via a Request for Proposal
My biggest challenge has been to guide the complete RFP process for the Treasury Management System for the client mentioned before. Together with the client I composed the RFP and we selected five suppliers to fill in the RFP. After they completed the RFP we invited all five for a live demo. After judging the demos we made a selection of two of them. These two suppliers were invited to make a final offer and finally the best proposal has been chosen
During my career I learned that honesty and real attention for your clients does pay off. By listening actively and attentively to the clients I learned to know what their questions and problems were and gave them a sincere answer, even if this did not answer their questions or solve their problems.
What I learned with respect to Treasury and Cash management in particular is that companies are not always aware of the importance of a good overview of the liquidity position of their business. In my opinion a company has to be able to get, with a ‘push on the button’, immediate insight in their cash position and even better their total cash conversion cycle
In my opinion it has become a more ‘technical’ role, where a Treasurer not only has to cope with cash-, currency-, interest- and/or loan positions within their company, but also with all kind of technical applications (bank, trade, treasury, ERP and so on) and their inter connectivity. Not to forget the recent developments with cloud services, API’s and blockchain.
Corona leads to strong falls in turn-over and because of that to problems with the cashflow of companies. Every treasury department will have to focus on improving the cashflow and be aware of the risks of a negative cashflow
| 25-05-2020 | XE.com
Webinar and Q&A | COVID-19 Recovery: Where to next? | Wednesday May 27, 2020 at 5.00 pm – 5.45 pm CET
As the number of reported Covid-19 cases declines, attention has shifted to recovery and how this might play out.
The Xe team provides thoughts on the current market outlook, and are joined by Jason Schenker, financial market futurist and economist. Our panel of experts will share insights into how businesses that have a commercial exposure to the currency markets can look to protect their bottom line from further impacts.
Register Now and and submit your questions, and the XE experts will look to answer the common challenges during the live session. XE may not have all of the answers, but they can look to provide some support to issues regarding currency exposure.
Date: May 27, 2020
Start time: 5.00 pm – 5.45 pm CET
Do you a question that you’d like one of the XE Experts to answer during the session? Please provide details and XE will endeavour to respond during the session. You can submit your question at the registration page.
| 19-05-2020 | Carlo de Meijer | treasuryXL
One of the recent promising blockchain trends is the growth of Blockchain-as-a Service (BAAS) platforms and software. This is highlighted by the recent release of the Second Annual Blockchain 50 list by Forbes. Several of the entrants on this year’s list offer blockchain-as-a-Service, including global players such as Microsoft, Amazon and IBM.
These third-party services are a relatively new development in the growing field of blockchain technology, mirroring the growing demand for hosting decentralised software services to boost market growth.
Fortune Business Insights recently revealed that the BAAS sector is set to reach a valuation of almost USD 25 billion (EUR 23,2 billion) by 2027, from USD 1.9 billion recorded in 2019, demonstrating an impressive so-called compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.5% during the forecast period (2020-2027). According to the same report especially the retail and e-commerce segment is expected to adopt BAAS solutions and are expected to register the highest growth rate during the forecast period.
In my first blog on BAAS I wrote last year I already explained what it is. Here follows a short resume.
BAAS is a cloud-based service that enables users to develop their own digital products by working with blockchain. It is in fact the distributed ledger equivalent of Software-as-a-Service or SAAS, the means by which businesses subscribe to and access cloud-based software.
These digital products may be smart contracts, decentralized applications (Dapps), or even other services that can work without any setup requirements of the complete blockchain-based infrastructure.
BAAS describes the process by which a third party installs, hosts and maintains blockchain networks on behalf of other organizations. The external service provider thereby offers to set up all the necessary blockchain technology and infrastructure for a fee. They thereby take care of the infrastructure and maintenance issues.
In fact, a BAAS’ provider’s role is similar to that of a web hosting provider. It allows customers to leverage cloud-based solutions. BAAS helps businesses develop and host blockchain apps and smart contracts in a blockchain ecosystem that is managed and administered by cloud-based service providers.
The BAAS operator typically offers support activities like bandwidth management, suitable allocation of resources, hosting requirements, and data security features. As a result enterprises can focus on their core business without worrying about the day-to-day complexities of operating a blockchain.
Consumers and businesses are increasingly willing to adapt to blockchain technology. However, the technical complexities and operational overhead involved in creating, configuring, and operating a blockchain and maintaining its infrastructure often act as a barrier.
Blockchain requires huge investment when it comes to setting up infrastructure and maintaining it. It is much more resource intensive, as compared to traditional databases. It also consumes a huge amount of energy and requires huge bandwidth.
BAAS is gaining significant traction recently, and that for various reasons. For many companies, pairing cloud services with BAAS could be very valuable. The personalized flexibility of BAAS technology allows businesses to combat pain points by tailoring integrations. BAAS can resolve complex issues around transparency, efficiency and cost in a simplistic and straightforward manner, thereby firmly reducing the barriers to entry for enterprise blockchain applications.
By favouring this BAAS model, companies can take advantage of the many often-mentioned benefits of blockchain technology – improved transparency and accountability, data security and trust minimization – without having to develop their own blockchain ecosystem or invest in expensive in-house computing resources.
They may give diverse businesses the opportunity to experiment with blockchain apps and smart contracts while letting service providers manage the network itself.
By organization-size, BAAS market is still dominated by large enterprises especially in the financial sector. The SMEs segment however is expected to grow at a higher rate, given the above mentioned opportunities of BAAS for these enterprises.
BAAS is ideal for such organizations that outsource their technological aspects, and are not involved in understanding the working mechanism of the blockchain. It allows these firms and other organizations to quickly get to grips with the technology without having to develop their own proprietary blockchain. It lets these enterprises focus on their core jobs and not waste time in setting up of infrastructure facilities.
BAAS is firmly growing across a variety of industries for issues such as supply chain management, identity management, payments. Blockchain technology is emerging as an optimal solution to many of the challenges faced by SMEs such as access to various financing sources. SMEs looking to expand their businesses in foreign countries can gain wider access to trade financing sources using BAAS as this technology is decentralized and cuts out the middlemen from the process.
BAAS has become so popular, that some of the largest tech companies in the world all have divisions dedicated to the integration and promotion of BAAS. But also some of the most successful cloud service providers have started offering Blockchain-as-a-Service.
Main companies or platforms that are operating in the BAAS market include the names like Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, Corda, IBM, SAP, Accenture, NTT Data, Stratis, Huawei, Baidu, Alibaba, Infosys, consequently shaping the future of blockchain applications.
But there are also the many smaller innovative BAAS companies – mostly based in the US – that integrate these game-changing ledgers into everyday technology such as Altoros, Blockstream, Bloq, Dragonchain, Factom, Innominds, PayStand, Skuchain, Symbiont, tZERO, VironIt etc.
Let’s take a look at some of the key BAAS service providers helping enterprises realize their blockchain ambitions.
Alibaba Cloud Blockchain as a Service
Alibaba’s BAAS offering, is under the umbrella of its cloud computing arm. Utilizing Quorum, Hyperledger Fabric and the Ant Blockchain, the platform integrates Alibaba Cloud’s Internet of Things (IoT) and anti-counterfeiting technologies to create blockchain solutions for product traceability, among other things. At present, Alibaba’s BAAS offering encompasses enterprise-level BAAS services, an agile BAAS platform that supports private deployment, and specific blockchain solutions for container services.
Amazon Web Services
Amazon provides various blockchain tools to both large and small companies via its cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS is a BAAS leader in many industries. The company integrates blockchain-based networks and business processes for some of the largest companies in the world (including T-Mobile and PwC) to improve IT infrastructure, business processes, human resources, financial transactions and supply chains.
Amazon, which has introduced Amazon Managed Blockchain, a BAAS service that “makes it easy to create and manage scalable blockchain networks” using open source frameworks including Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric. Amazon has attracted a steady stream of high-profile clients including Nestlé, BMW, Accenture, Sony Music Japan, and the Singapore Exchange.
Huawei Blockchain Service
Huawei unveiled its novel BAAS solution, called Blockchain Service, based on Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Fabric 1.0. The solution is devised to help companies design smart contracts focusing on supply chain, securitized assets, and public services, on top of a distributed ledger network.
IBM Blockchain Platform
Another key BAAS provider is IBM. Its Blockchain Platform allows organizations to “easily build and join a blockchain network on-premises, or on any private, public, or hybrid multicloud. Partnerships have been vital to IBM’s continuous BAAS expansion. IBM’s Blockchain-as-a-Service business deploys Hyperledger Fabric and has been used extensively in industries such as food supply, media, advertising and trade finance.
Microsoft Azure
And there is Microsoft’s Azure platform based on Ethereum. That BAAS offering enables clients to deploy blockchain networks, build apps with confidence and store data off-chain. Clients can choose to build on several networks, while three products are available: Azure Blockchain Service, Azure Blockchain Workbench, and Azure Blockchain Development Kit.
As Azure can be integrated with other Microsoft products such as Logic Apps and Flow, this makes it ‘a dependable choice’ for enterprises seeking to harness blockchain, such as General Electric and T-Mobile .
R3 – Corda
Corda, the open-source blockchain platform developed by global enterprise solutions provider R3, enables companies to transact directly and privately using smart contracts. The BAAS provider was recently used by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to simplify financial processes and enhance settlements. Interoperability, security and privacy are the foundations of the finance-focused Corda. The firm R3 developed solutions for over 300 clients.
According to a recent BAAS Market Report North America – especially the US, Mexico and Canada – owns the largest share in the worldwide market for BAAS. One of the major reasons for the widespread development and adoption of BAAS tools in North America is the strong presence of small, medium, and large tech companies operating in the US. This, along with rising integration of BAAS solutions with public utilities services, will enable the region to dominate the BAAS market share in the foreseeable future.
Europe has been deemed as the second-leading market for BAAS. Apart from this, the region can note significant surge in adoption of blockchain technology in the forthcoming years, because of the strong support from the government across various countries. Increasing focus of well-established players on blockchain technology will propel the market in the near future.
The Asia Pacific (APAC) region is believed to be the third-most lucrative market for BAAS. The BAAS Market Report states that Asia-Pacific will register the highest growth rate during the forecast period. The BAAS sector will be boosted by enormous blockchain investment by China, Japan, and South Korea governments.
BAAS may become the catalyst that leads to a widespread adoption of blockchain technology and to a deeper penetration across various sectors and businesses, especially by SMEs.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) blockchain technology could be instrumental in bridging the gap in trade financing around the world. Similar benefits can be reaped by SMEs in the context of supply chain processes as transparency, immutability, and traceability become inevitable. These potential advantages of blockchain for SMEs may provide a significant boost to the BAAS market growth in the coming years.
So, BAAS may be seen as a great opportunity for SMEs to take advantage of blockchain.
Economist and researcher
18-05-2020 | by Rowan Hermes | Symbid
Convertible bonds, dividends, business angels … As a new investor you enter a world with its own terminology. We believe it is important that everyone, regardless of their experience with investing, need to be informed as good as possible before investing in any of the projects on the Symbid platform. That is why we list the most important terms.
Blog is in Dutch language:
AANDELEN
Een aandeel is een bewijs van deelname in een organisatie. Dit betekent dat je door een aandeel te kopen aandeelhouder en mede-eigenaar van een organisatie wordt. Hier zitten bepaalde rechten aan verbonden, bijvoorbeeld medezeggenschap in de organisatie. Aandelen zijn normaliter verhandelbaar.
AANDEELHOUDER
De eigenaar van een of meerdere aandelen en deels eigenaar van een organisatie. Deze persoon heeft normaal gesproken recht op dividend.
DIVIDEND
Als tegenprestatie voor het kopen van een aandeel wordt dividend uitgekeerd aan de aandeelhouder. Dividend is een deel van de winst van de organisatie. Het gaat om het bedrag dat overblijft van de inkomsten van de organisatie na aftrek van alle verplichtingen en investeringen. Dividend kan als geld worden uitgekeerd, maar ook in de vorm van aandelen.
OBLIGATIELENING
Een obligatielening wordt uitgegeven door een organisatie. Het is meestal een geldlening op lange termijn opgedeeld in delen met dezelfde waarde en rechten. De lening wordt afgesloten met meerdere investeerders. Deze investeerders krijgen elk een schuldbewijs, oftewel obligatie.
OBLIGATIE
Een obligatie is het schuldbewijs van een organisatie aan een investeerder. In andere woorden is een obligatie het bewijs dat de investeerder geld heeft uitgeleend aan de organisatie.
NOMINALE WAARDE
De nominale waarde van een obligatielening is het totaalbedrag dat de organisatie met de lening wil ophalen. Dit bedrag wordt in gelijke stukken gedeeld, de obligaties.
OBLIGATIEHOUDER
De eigenaar van een of meerdere obligaties. Deze persoon heeft normaal gesproken recht op rente en de terugbetaling van de obligatiewaarde aan het einde van de looptijd.
RENTE
Als tegenprestatie voor het uitlenen van geld wordt rente uitgekeerd aan de obligatiehouder. Op maandelijkse of jaarlijkse basis wordt een vast of variabel percentage uitgekeerd.
CONVERTEERBARE OBLIGATIES
Een converteerbare obligatie is een speciale vorm van obligaties, deze kunnen omgezet worden naar aandelen van de organisatie. Vooraf is bepaald hoeveel aandelen een obligatie waard is.
ACHTERGESTELDE OBLIGATIES
Wanneer de organisatie de lening niet terug kan betalen, komen houders van achtergestelde obligaties achteraan op de lijst van schuldeisers te staan. Het risico dat de lening niet wordt terugbetaald is groter, waardoor het rentepercentage meestal hoger is.
RISICO’S
Investeren is risicovol. De kans bestaat dat je (een deel van) je ingelegde geld verliest, omdat de organisatie niet in staat is de lening (volledig) terug te betalen. Echter, zonder risico zal een investering geen geld opbrengen.
ZEKERHEDEN
Investeringen brengen niet alleen risico’s, maar soms ook zekerheden met zich mee. Zekerheden zijn onderpanden of waarborgen in de vorm van geld, goederen, voorraden of rechten. Wanneer de lening onverhoopt niet terugbetaald kan worden, kan de het onderpand opgeëist worden.
GROEIFINANCIERING
Groeifinanciering wordt ook wel groeigeld genoemd. Het is financiering die ingezet wordt voor de verdere expansie van een organisatie. De organisatie wordt door het geld naar een volgende fase getild.
BUSINESS ANGELS
Met een business angel wordt een informele verstrekker van durfkapitaal bedoeld. Business Angels zijn meestal welvarende particulieren die zelf ooit ondernemer geweest zijn. Zij investeren actief kapitaal in veelbelovende organisaties. In ruil hiervoor ontvangen zij vaak aandelen, een achtergestelde lening of een combinatie van beide.
Naast kapitaal brengen business angels ook ervaring, kennis en contacten mee, wat goede voordelen zijn. Een nadeel kan zijn dat een deel van de winst gedeeld moet worden met de business angel.
DURFKAPITAAL
Durfkapitaal (ook wel venture capital) is een brede term voor iedereen die geen professionele investeerder, bank, specialist of deskundige is en geld uitleent aan een organisatie. Het risico is hoger dan gemiddeld, omdat het geld meestal wordt uitgeleend aan startups of bestaande organisaties die een nieuw product op de markt willen brengen. De kans op terugbetaling is kleiner dan bij bestaande bedrijven met bewezen producten.
AFM
Het publiek, het bedrijfsleven en de overheid moeten vertrouwen kunnen hebben in de financiële markten en dat financiële instellingen op een duidelijke en eerlijke manier handelen. Daarom houdt de Autoriteit Financiële Markten (AFM) toezicht op de financiële markten.
Financiële partijen die een rol vervullen richting een niet-professionele investeerder moeten over een AFM-vergunning beschikken. Voor het verstrekken van de AFM-vergunning wordt getoetst of de betreffende partij beschikt over de juiste procedures en of de beleidsbepalers integer, geschikt en vakbekwaam zijn.
| 15-05-2020 | VU Amsterdam |
This is a cost-free online event on 24 June 2020 and will start at 7:00 PM CET.
This is the topic of the Corporate Treasurers Online Round Table that will be organized by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for potential students and alumni of the postgraduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance programme. Four experienced and educated registered treasurers (RT) will speak from their experience and, in dialogue with the participants, try to look into the future.
Speakers work in various industries: retail, tourist, trading, logistics and manufacturing, which all feel covid-19 consequences in their own way. They will inform the audience how their first reaction was and that of their company. About how they manage the crisis and show resilience, how they recover from first effects, and how they have adjusted or will adjust to the new reality.
The event will take place in the evening and will last 75 minutes. The round table will be kicked off with brief introductions and presentations. Input from participants is expected and appreciated. Just like classes at the university, interactions will connect theory & day-to-day reality and raise the quality of the round table. All are expected to leave the event with practical do’s and don’ts. Herbert Rijken on behalf of the VU will be your host, Pieter de Kiewit will moderate the session.
This is a cost-free online event on 24 June 2020 and will start at 7:00 PM CET. As this is an interactive event, the organizer, VU Amsterdam, has the right to select who can (not) join. Further details will be shared with participants in due time.
14-05-2020 | treasuryXL | XE |
We’ve previously gone over why you should choose money transfer over other methods of sending money, and we’ve discussed how to start your transfer. But one question we haven’t answered is, “When should I make a money transfer?”
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 multibillion-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
| 13-05-2020 | Cashforce
CashForce invites you to learn about their Quick Wins Offerings during a webinar on Tuesday, May 19th at 5pm (CEST).
In the context of the current environment, many companies are looking for ways to create visibility on Cash and Working Capital.
This is why we would like to introduce 3 Quick Wins Offerings to you:
Date: May 19, 2020
Start time: 5.00 pm CEST
13-05-2020 | Treasurer Search | treasuryXL
Our partner Treasurer Search is looking for a Treasury Manager for a fast growing services company with a global and capital intense infrastructure.
The position is newly created. The Treasury Manager will be responsible for: