Instimatch Global digitaliseert geldmarkt met online network

| 25-10-2018 | by Instimatch Global | treasuryXL

De geldmarkt geldt als één van de laatste bastions binnen de financiële sector waar transacties nog grotendeels via de telefoon worden afgesloten. Hierdoor limiteert de handel zich vaak tot bepaalde landsgrenzen en wordt de efficiency beperkt.

Via een nieuw online platform digitaliseert Instimatch Global de handel in geldmarktproducten en vergroot daarmee de mogelijkheden voor klanten om liquiditeit te vinden-, dan wel uit te zetten, met een efficiëntere prijsvorming- en executie als gevolg.

Het hoofdkantoor van Instimatch Global bevindt zich in Zwitserland (Zürich) en na een eerste uitbreiding naar Duitsland, is onlangs ook een vestiging in Amsterdam geopend. De opening van een vestiging in Londen wordt op korte termijn voorzien.

Instimatch Global is opgericht als reactie op de financiële crisis van 2008, waarna het idee ontstond om een platform/network te creëren waarop een grote groep van diverse institutionele partijen, variërend van o.a. corporate treasuries, bank treasuries, verzekeraars e.a., onderling kunnen handelen om zodoende een efficiëntere allocatie van liquiditeit te bewerkstelligen.

Het direct bij elkaar brengen van zo veel mogelijk verschillende tegenpartijen op één scherm, waarbij de gebruikers een “live” en handelbaar overzicht van de markt te zien krijgen, creëert de mogelijkheid voor een krappere bid/offer spread, terwijl door de digitale executie de transactiekosten lager zijn vergeleken met de huidige manier van handelen via de telefoon.

Voor meer informatie kunt u contact opnemen met Instimatch Global.

Instimatch Global zal ook aanwezig zijn bij de DACT Treasurybeurs op 16 November aanstaande in Noordwijkerhout.

Instimatch Global AG Herengracht 282; 1016BX; Amsterdam.
T: 0031 (0)20 521 9325; E: [email protected]; W: www.instimatch.com


Roel Schuring – Head of Sales Benelux at Instimatch Global

 

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Preview of the Treasurer Test report

| 23-10-2018 | by treasuryXL |

We are thrilled to show you the first preview of the results report in below example. Each candidate that completes the test will receive this report.

 

Roy Baaten – Community Manager & Business Developer at TreasuryXL

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Digital Guarantee Management: Move from tedious paperwork to electronic process management

| 22-10-2018 |  TIPCO 

“Three hundred and seventy-five thousand and thirty-three Swiss francs”. If you are involved in guarantee management, you’ll know that it is often still necessary to write guarantee volumes in words. Besides this, treasurers also spend lots of time dealing with complex requests, ticking numerous boxes correctly and accurately transferring addresses. The margin of error is zero.

Guarantee management is a specialist area where details really matter, and where a well-trained eye, top levels of concentration and lots of hard work are preconditions. At corporate groups, this often involves many subsidiaries and therefore numerous players and parties.

When a subsidiary needs a guarantee, it often takes several days and no-end of coordination until the bank guarantee is finally available. During these tedious coordination processes, it is often necessary for a colleague to pick up the phone after the fifth email and personally ask about the guarantee – but that doesn’t make things any more efficient. Double data entries are not rare, cost everyone involved lots of time and increase the error rate. And, if high volumes require several approval steps, then compliance checks and even more patience are necessary.

The objective: Less paper, more speed

Imagine you could do away with this paper chase and digitalise your guarantee management as far as possible. Starting with the request for a guarantee, on to the approvals process and distribution, all the way to issuing the associated documents. Paper-based applications which are circulated within the group and later forwarded to the bank by fax, email or post, would then be a thing of the past.

That is all possible with a digitalised process and tailor-made workflow management: Reduce your processing times, forget tedious typing work and have more time for performing analyses. The following case study highlights what this could look like in practice.

The full article can be read on the website of TIPCO treasury.

 

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Blockchain versus GDPR and who should adjust most

| 18-10-2018 | Carlo de Meijer | treasuryXL

It has now been more than four months since the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (hereafter GDPR) came into effect. This regulation aims to strengthen privacy and personal data protection in the EU, by giving private persons more control over their personal data. But it also offer a uniform set of regulations for businesses with customers in the EU region, with the risk of hefty fines in case of non-compliance.

This event however has caused a lot of concerns in the blockchain industry. At first glance some GDPR provisions seem in direct conflict with the fundamentals of blockchain technology, and may even be intrinsically incompatible with what the new European privacy rules seek to uphold. For blockchain the most controversial GDPR mandate is the “Right to be Forgotten”, giving individuals the right to request that their personal data be removed from a record. Because of its decentralised character with immutable blockchains, data however cannot be deleted. Blockchains are designed to last forever. That puts blockchain in direct opposition to the GDPR.

Main question is: Are there ways to be found so that GDPR and blockchain may co-exist? Can blockchain work properly in tandem with the new GDPR regulations without harming its fundamentals? And how should regulators react?

EU General Data protection Regulation (GDPR): what does it mandate?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a far-reaching privacy legislation that is designed to enhance the protection of personal data and give individuals in the EU greater control over their own data. The GDPR is requiring not only transparency into what companies will do with consumer data, but also mandating clear consent mechanisms to ensure that consumers understand what companies are sharing, with whom, and for what purpose. GDPR thereby regulates the collection, processing, transfer and retention of every EU citizen’s personal data, requiring companies to provide visibility and control to individuals, on demand. Non-compliance with GDPR can result in heavy fines.

GDPR however has a number of key provisions that could heavily impact blockchain.

Read the full article of our expert Carlo de Meijer on LinkedIn

 

Carlo de Meijer

Economist and researcher

 

Global Political Risks by ICC Consultants

| 15-10-2018 | ICC Consultants | treasuryXL |

In deze blog worden de internationale politieke ontwikkelingen geanalyseerd die impact kunnen gaan hebben op de financiële markten en de mate waarin. De visie van ICC Consultants is gebaseerd op een groot netwerk binnen de wereldwijd toon-aangevende researchhuizen en 40 jaar ervaring in de financiële markten. Middels de weblink onderaan deze blog kunt u meerdere rapporten van ICC Consultants downloaden.

 

Iranian brake vs Saudi and Russian spigots

US president Trump has been trying to have his oil cake and eat it. On the one hand, the mercurial leader has been tightening the screws on Iran thereby keeping hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil from the market. On the other hand, the American president has been ripping into oil producers for being responsible – in his eyes – for high prices: “We protect the countries of the Middle East, they would not be safe for very long without us, and yet they continue to push for higher and higher oil prices! We will remember. The OPEC monopoly must get prices down now!” Trump’s Russian counterpart Putin said last week: “We had a very good meeting with President Trump in Helsinki. But if we had talked about [oil], I would tell him that if he wants to find the culprit for the surge in prices, ‘Donald, then you need to look in the mirror.’”

The main question keeping  oil traders and analysts at wake these days: will the fall in Iranian exports be compensated by Saudi Arabia and Russia pumping up more crude or will we see an impending supply crunch cause a further spike in the oil price? Already, Brent’s fifth consecutive quarterly increase  makes it the longest streak since 2008.  The magical $100 mark is getting mentioned more and more . September 2014 was the last time when Brent hit this level. US petrol prices have already been at the highest level since 2014 for quite some time.

November 4 is the US sanctions deadline for companies to stop buying Iranian oil. In anticipation of that cutoff date, Iranian oil exports have already fallen considerably. In June crude shipments from Iran totaled about 2.3 million barrels per day; last month those exports came to 1.5 mb/d.

Expectations for how much oil will be lost have steadily risen. Some analysts now even fear that Iranian exports could fall back all the way towards 500,000 b/d. Already, shipments to South Korea, France and Japan have halted.

Secret shortcuts?

The Economist Intelligence Unit describes six ways in which Teheran could and will try to keep crude flowing:

  • Diplomacy: For example, Iran could offer China concessions when it comes to Beijing’s massive Belt and Road Initiative in return for a promise by the Chinese to keep buying Iranian crude. India wants to tighten its grip on the Iranian port of Chabahar. India has already committed significant political and diplomatic resources to the project, which it hopes will counter Pakistan’s Gwadar port, in which China has a significant stake.
  • Ghost tankers: During previous rounds of sanctions Teheran still managed to get quite some oil out by ducking the roaming eye of Washington through turning off the system that allows traders to track the movements of tankers. Iran has already started with this tactic and most experts believe that Teheran has a fleet of ghost ships carrying oil and no longer sending out tracking signals.
  • Cut prices: In August it became clear that Iran is offering discounts to its Asian customers. The regime could broaden the number of countries it is proposing these rebates to and it could bump up the discounts.
  • Private sector: Iran could try and sell its oil on the Iranian bourse with the buyers then being allowed to export the crude oil.
  • Trading in other currencies than the dollar: Teheran is trying to convince other nations to do deals in local currencies instead of the dollar. In this way, it could be able to circumvent American sanctions (which aim to punish financial institutions facilitating Iranian trade).
  • Barter deals: the other way to avoid doing business in dollars. By trading goods for goods Iran could resume the scheme that it used to try to blunt the impact of previous sanctions between 2012 and 2016. Iran would probably accept agricultural products and medical equipment in exchange for its crude.

 Through these various methods Iran will be able to at least get some oil out to customers. However, from next month onwards, the number of barrels Teheran manages to export will no doubt decrease further.

No end in sight

A deal between the US and Iran is nowhere close as the International Court of Justice ruled against Washington in a case brought by Teheran whereby the judges ruled that the US is breaking the 1955 Treaty of Amity. Washington has replied by not accepting the ruling but by claiming it will withdraw from the treaty. Moreover, over at Washington the so-called NOPEC Act  is getting a fresh look. This bill would remove the sovereign immunity that has long shielded OPEC members from legal action by the Americans. A version of NOPEC had managed to make it through Congress in 2007, but it was pulled after then president Bush threatened to veto it. This time also, the bill probably won’t make it, but it nevertheless makes clear that tensions between the US and (other) oil producers are on the rise. Another example of this is the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), which allows victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue Riyadh. The law is seen as key to why state-run Saudi Aramco was hesitant in publicly listing its shares on US markets in an IPO that has since been shelved.

In Iran, the political class and the mullahs could be prompted to continue their hardline by the results of a recent poll in which large majorities declare their support for the country’s current foreign policy.

Swing producers to the rescue?

It remains to be seen whether other suppliers will fill in the gap caused by the Iranian crisis. By this time, Saudi Arabia is producing at levels that amount to its highest on record: 10.7 mb/d. Some experts doubt whether the kingdom will be able to significantly raise its production numbers.

 

Russia is also closing in on its maximum production level, due to – among other things – the lack of international capital flowing in to finance domestic energy projects and the challenges importing essential equipment caused by sanctions Russia faces as a result of among other things its actions in Ukraine and Georgia and its spy adventures all over the west. Russia’s deputy energy minister claims that current potential for upping production is around 200,000-300,000 b/d up to the end of 2019 from the current level. Already, Russian oil production has risen to a post-Soviet record of 11.4 mb/d.

The other giant producer, the US itself, struggles with infrastructure bottlenecks. Drillers in the western parts of Texas have put too much pressure on the regions infrastructure. Thereby driving up costs and putting downward pressure on the price for a barrel of oil; if you don’t have the means of turning the crude to practical usage, the oil obviously becomes less valuable. The more so since pipelines are also in desperate need of upgrades and extensions.

The more Saudis and others pump up to compensate for Iranian (and for example Venezuelan) shortfalls, the more spare capacity disappears and the more already lingering doubts about how much more the big players can add to their production levels will build up.

Slowing world economy

Considering all of the above, it seems upward pressure on oil prices from the supply side is the most likely in the months to come. What about the demand side? According to BP, oil consumption in the developed markets has peaked. Therefore higher demand in the future will largely depend on the emerging markets. As Bloomberg columnist David Fickling put it: “When they sneeze, the global oil market may yet catch a cold.” And a cold seems to be doing the rounds lately within the EM. Fickling points out that for EM oil is already as expensive as it was during the peak in 2008. This as a result of the slump many EM currencies find themselves in. For example, the oil price in reals broke its 2008 record last March and is now 50% higher than its level ten years ago. So, from this perspective, we could see some downward pressure on oil prices as crude is simply becoming too expensive for many nations.

In addition, general economic worries are on the rise as IMF chief Lagarde attested to last week when see said: “For most countries, it has become more difficult to deliver on the promise of greater prosperity, because the global economic weather is beginning to change.” So as global financial conditions are becoming less forgiving – with rising interest rates, a strengthening dollar etc – high crude prices are inflicting even more pain on oil importing emerging countries in particular. They see their current account deficits growing. Usually you would expect a depreciation of the currency of such a country resulting in more exports that would make up for the increased costs of buying oil. Not now: growth of world trade is slowing and many of these countries have high dollar debts that have become a major burden due to the strong dollar.

So demand side constraints are building up. In the short term supply side risks i.e. the kicking in of sanctions against Iran could drive the prices up a bit more, but world economic growth is to slow in 2019 and together with overly bullish long positions outnumbering bearish short ones by a ratio of more than 12:1 (the record was 14:1 back in April) we expect demand side factors to overtake worries about the supply side and causing a pullback of Brent towards $70-$80 levels in the months to quarters ahead.

Chart-technical analysis

A large upward trend is already dominant since early 2016. Objective measures of trend direction – the price is above both the upward sloping 50-day and 200-day moving average – indicate the same. As such, the level of $89 – the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level of the multi-year decline from 2014 – is the minimal technical target in the coming weeks and months.

Still, bear in mind that past weeks’ strong gains have left Brent crude oil very stretched as it is trading around two standard deviations above its 50-day moving average. Also, the 14-day Relative Strength index has reached overbought levels (above 70) that, in the past quarters, were accompanied by at least – temporary – top forming (see graph). All the above will likely set the stage at least a sideways consolidation or a pullback first to digest these strong gains.

Furthermore, market sentiment towards the oil complex is highly positive. For example, the Daily Sentiment Index (trade-futures.com) showed a vast amount of bulls (> 90%) for WTI crude oil last week. Moreover, the Commitment of Traders report shows that hedge funds & other speculators are still holding rather large net-long positions in both Brent and WTI crude oil. Such optimism also makes oil vulnerable for a setback. If so, we can expect a decline towards short-term support in Brent just above $80. Finally, prices below $80 to a significant degree will likely trigger a larger correction towards the next support area near $72.

Het rapport is geschreven door Andy Langenkamp, politiek analist bij ICC Consultants. Op de website van
ICC Consultants kunt u meer rapporten downloaden.

Corporate Trade Finance Products : Letter of Credit

| 11-10-2018 | by Nijay Gupta | treasuryXL |

What is Letter of Credit/Documentary Credit under UCP 600 – ICC  Paris:

A letter of Credit is a sort of Guarantee issued by a Bank – Opening Bank, on behalf of a buyer(applicant) favouring the seller (Beneficiary) to honour the  compliant documents presented thru a Bank (negotiating bank) in terms of the LC conditions. In order to secure payment, the Supplier of goods is given a sort of guarantee by the buyer’s bank to pay (at Sight or Usance or Deferred Payment) on presentation of Documents in terms of LC.  So, the LC can provide payment on Sight Basis, Usance Basis or Deferred Payment Basis, based on the Terms of Payment agreed between Supplier & Buyer. The buyer/Opener of the LC is assured Delivery of Goods within the dates of shipment mentioned in the LC.

LC is also known as Documentary Credit, as banks deals in documents and not in goods.

The LC is governed by the UCP 600 (2007) Revision publication by ICC, Paris, provides the set of rules governing LC in Domestic/International Trade in almost all 175 countries. The 39 Articles of UCP 600, gives the details of the various types of LC’s, role/rights/liabilities of various parties i.e.

  • Opener/Applicant (buyer),
  • Beneficiary (seller),
  • Issuing Bank (buyer’s bank),

Advising Bank (Correspondent bank of the LC issuing bank), may act as LC Transferring or Negotiating Bank too for the availability of LC for Negotiation leads to be known as : Restricted LC or LC avaialable with…. Bank

Negotiating Bank (Generally Sellers Bank),

Re-imbursing Bank (generally overseas correspondent bank, where the LC issuing bank maintains its Nostro a/c).

The articles also provide the way various Documents like Bill of exchange, Invoices, Cerifiticate of Origin, BL/AWB, Inspection Certificate, Insurance Policy etc to be preapred and presented to the LC Issuring bank for Payment (Sight document), Acceptance & Payment (Usance/Deferred Payment documents).

What are the various Types of Documentary Credit:

Irrevocable:  The LC, which can not be cancelled/amended without the consent of all the parties to the LC, is the most common type of LC is used in Domestic/International Trade. In this, the LC issuing bank guarantees the payment of LC as per the Tenor of the Documents on presentation of compliant documents to the beneficiary..  This is the  most common type of LC is used in domestic/international Trade. All types of LC’s are Irrevocable, unless a bank issues Revocable LC, specifically. UCP discussed only about issuing of Irrevocable LC, though the banks can issue Revocable LC or combination of other types of LC as below.

Revocable LC, (which could be cancelled by LC issuing Bank or Applicant without the consent of Beneficiary before the shipment is made) is not in practice and not provided in UCP 600, though the same can still be established by the LC Issuing bank at the request of the Applicant. Irrevocable Confirmed:  In this type of LC, the Payment Guarantee is given by LC Advising or a Bank nominated by LC issuing Bank . The bank adding confirmation to the LC is done only at the request of LC issuing bank and the Conforming bank can be in the country of exporter or elsewhere. Since this type of LC requires payment of confirmation charges by the Beneficiary, the use of this type of LC is restricted in case of Geo-political conditions in the buyer country or high risk buyer only.

Irrevocable Transferable: The LC which can be transferred by the Advising Bank at the request of Beneficiary, in part/full or for lesser amount by keeping the profit for the beneficary of LC.  Once LC is Transferred, it can not be transferred back to Benficiary of LC.  Under this, the LC Transferring bank is the only bank authorised to Negotiate/Pay for documents over and above the LC opening bank

Irrevocable Confirm:   LC can be confirmed by a bank in Beneficiary’s Country (generally done by LC Advising bank) or by a bank in other country, when beneficiary is not very sure about the standing of the LC issuing bank or Geo-political situation in buyer’s country. LC is confirmed at the request of LC issuing bank and Confirming bank may ask beneficiary to pay for the confirming charges.  On presentation of documents, confirming bank shall becoming like LC issuing bank and is bound to pay/accept documents, as per LC conditions.

Irrevocable Back to Back:  Its not provided in UCP but its used by Beneficiary for opening another/local LC backed by the Original LC on same terms and conditions to provide security for payment for supply of goods to the origianl beneficiary .

Irrevocable Revolving:  This type of LC provides flexiblity of Re-instating the amount of the LC, on utilisation of the LC amount by exporting the goods as per terms of LC.  This type of LC is usefull, for exports of different goods at different period without committing the total value of all exports in one LC. This reduces the requirement of lower LC limit or Cash margin for opening of the LC by applicant (importer).

Irrevocable Stand-By LC:  This was inititated at the time when US banks were not authorised to Issue Guarnatees or take Guarantees .  But this is very popolus amongst the suppliers of goods and services in today’s time all over the world.  This type of LC, provides a guarantee to the supplier of services, equipments, airlines etc to be paid on completion of the serives or agreed time period.  Its very common in Airlines and Equipment suppliers on lease or rental basis.

Which type of LC is desirable in Domestic & International Trade:

An Irrevocable LC is quite fine, which allows payment on compliance with the LC terms and this also allows surety of shipment by exporters within the terms mentioned in the LC, though there is no guarantee of quality of goods being supplied by the exporters.  That is why Banks say, Bank Deal in Documents and not in Goods and its known as documentary credit.

Should there be a Geo-political situation in the LC issuing bank’s country or the standing of the LC issuing bank can not be established, its better to go for a Confirmed LC.  Other types of LC’s are practiced based on the requirement of Importer and Exporters in Trade.  LC can have a combination of types of LC together too and i.e. Why LC is the most flexible instrument used in Domestic and International Trade.

What Importer (Applicant) should do before opening LC:

  1. Get the detailed report of the Supplier from their banks interms of their Standing, Line of business, other business dealings, sanctions on the country etc
  2. The previous experiences of others with the supplier & Country Risks, or Sanctions
  3. Get the lines set-up by the Bank for opening of the LC
  4. Apply to bank for Issuing LC along-with Proforma Invoice or Confirmed Order
  5. After bank’s issuing LC, ensure, LC is recieved by the Supplier with same terms of Proforma Invoice or confirm order

What Exporter (Beneficiary) should do on receipt of LC:

  1. check all the terms & conditions of LC as per Proforma Invoice or confirm order.
  2. Check Incoterms and Terms of Payment
  3. Check the names of various parties, goods, addresses, requirements of shipments, Incoterms, LC payment terms, Inspection Certitificate, Certificate of Origin, Insurance & other special documents requirments like Weight/analysis/Packing Certificates etc.
  4. Get the LC confirmed, if the same was desired and the same has been requested by the LC issuing bank to the LC advising bank
  5. Get the LC amended, in case exporter can not comply with any conditions or terms of LC
  6. Meanwhile, the exporter can start with Manufacturing or arranging for the goods for shipment
  7. Can request for fixing lines and ask ask for Pre-shipment and Post shipment finance against LC and presentation of documents
  8. Exporters should ensure compliance of all terms and conditions of LC, before presentation of documents for payment/acceptance by the Negotiating or LC issuing bank to get protection under UCP 600 of ICC, Paris

What is the future of LC in view of E-Banking and Online business/trade:

Though most of the business is overtaken by online operators, the need for LC shall continue at least for next 25 years.  In order to get well worsed with LC, I suggest all to read articles UCP 600 of ICC, Paris and practice with various types of LC, rights & responsibilities of the LC Issuing Bank, Advising Bank, Negotiating Bank, applicant, Beneficiary & Confirming/Re-mbursing/Transferring banks etc in usage.

 

 

Nijay Gupta

Founder & CEO NK GUPTA Consulting

 

 

Booklet “Treasury for Non Treasurers” developed jointly with the Hogeschool Utrecht

| 09-10-2018 | treasuryXL |

 


All active in corporate treasury regularly get the question what his/her job is about. For laymen, treasury seems complex, magical, elusive. I assume that this is recognizable to many in the field. Providing a compact, clear explanation is no easy task. This gave us the idea to create a booklet “treasury for non treasurers” and make this available through various channels. Our objective in this in three lines is:

A well-structured, compact text that laymen offers an introduction to corporate treasury. This will be printed in a handy booklet, will be downloadable as a PDF and will be published in sections on www.treasuryXL.com in a blog form.

The students of the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht who, obtain the Minor Treasury Management, will write the chapters, divided over various themes that cover treasury as well as possible. The students will be supervised by people from the field. The production of the booklet will be managed by the community manager of treasuryXL. Editorial support will be provided by the Hogeschool Utrecht. The blogs and PDF’s will be published on the website of treasuryXL.

The booklet can be sponsored by companies that are product and/or service providers to the corporate treasury community. Both treasuryXL and Treasurer Search already stepped to the plate. The sponsors will carry the out-of-pocket expenses for the production of the booklet, mainly printing. In return they will receive a number of copies. The expected costs for one booklet are estimated at €1,-.

The supervisors will be field experts with an interest in helping young students. They can be independent, but also employees of the above mentioned sponsors. They are expected to have two (telephone) meetings with one or two students and comment on their input, being blogs / chapters.

Please let us know if you are interested in becoming a supervisor and/or sponsor. We look forward working with you,

Roy Baaten
Community Manager
[email protected] / (06) 21 30 37 44

 

 

Treasurer Test development: huge investment, great result!

| 03-10-2018 | by treasuryXL |

It all started a few years ago. The desire to better assess corporate treasurers led to a group of us wanting to build a test that did not exist yet. Together with various experts we invested time, money and expertise.

First, a project team was put together and Merel van Geel was appointed project leader. Other team members have a background in education, science, corporate treasury, assessment psychology, IT and treasury recruitment. Quite a diverse group! The goal of this project group was to investigate whether the concept could lead to a feasible business plan.

We quickly found that the cost of the software and its customization plays a vital role in this plan. The software should be able to test both personality as well as treasury knowledge, be able to work with various peer groups, include sound statistical research methods and generate reports. It should have a client friendly interface. In a few months, many systems were tested and demos have been viewed. After long consideration and negotiations, a software manufacturer was chosen that already developed tests and could be integrated into our treasuryXL existing software. This manufacturer has many universities and other research institutes as their client.

In parallel various personality models were considered. As the Big Five model is widely accepted, well known and, different from many others, accepted in academic circles, that is the model we chose. The Big Five assessment that is integrated in the Treasurer Test is offered by other parties separately and integrated in our solution. In other blogs we will elaborate on the model.

A team of experts from the Hogeschool Utrecht and the Vrije Universiteit took it upon them to develop a library of questions in various treasury sub categories and complexity level. The Test holds a lot more questions than the average candidate will answer.

Integration of various components was led by Merel and the results were screened by an advisory board that, together with a group of close friends were the first ones to do the Test for the first time. In parallel, we started to expand the treasuryXL website so that the test could be integrated and you can place and pay your order. Components such as a logo and a GDPR privacy statement were developed. Finally, the report of the Treasurer Test was designed, developed from the various above described components..

At this moment we are further testing the results. A selection of testee candidates has been made to fill the peer groups which are essential in the concept of the Treasurer Test. After the test has been made by these persons and feedback has been processed, the test will become available. We are very excited about this and will keep you up-to-date!

Roy Baaten – Community Manager at TreasuryXL

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Partnership Cashforce and BNP Paribas

| 03-10-2018 | Cashforce | treasuryXL |

BNP Paribas and Cashforce enter into a partnership to offer digital cash flow forecasting and working capital services to corporate treasurers. Through this partnership, BNP Paribas will offer to its clients Cashforce’s next-generation digital cash forecasting and treasury management solutions, focused on analytics, automation and integration. To further extend its commitment to this partnership, BNP Paribas also invested in Cashforce.

Pursuing the digitalisation of its Corporate clients’ user experience, BNP Paribas today announced it has sealed a partnership with Cashforce, a Fintech company that will allow the Bank to enhance client journeys within cash management and trade finance. Through this partnership, Corporates will experiment a digital, autonomous and cross-banking solution for their day to day transaction banking needs: by connecting its treasury department with other business and finance departments, and by offering full transparency into the cash flow drivers, accurate and automated cash flow forecasting and treasury reporting.

BNP Paribas continues to invest in its digital offering to treasurers and this partnership – which brings the transaction banking business another step closer to open banking – reflects its technology-centric focus and leadership. The platform is unique in its category because of the seamless integration with numerous ERP systems and financial data sources, the ability to drill down the transaction level details, and the intelligent AI-based simulation engine that enables multiple cash flow scenarios, forecasts and impact analyses.

“This partnership with Cashforce marks a new step in our digital transformation and illustrates our commitment to offering our clients the best-in-class solutions they deserve, wherever they come from. Forming agile partnerships with innovative Fintechs like Cashforce, who leverage new technologies such as AI, helps us to significantly accelerate the digitalisation of our customer journey in the area of transaction banking,” commented Jacques Levet, Head of Transaction Banking EMEA BNP Paribas.

“The partnership with BNP Paribas will further boost our international expansion and make more treasury departments work with accurate, efficient and best-in-class cash flow analytics and cash forecasting solutions. Also our working capital analytics engine will further strengthen the integrated banking and trade finance experience for BNP Paribas’s clients.”  added Nicolas Christiaen, CEO of Cashforce.

The platform will be available to clients through CENTRIC, BNP Paribas’ integrated digital banking platform that gives corporate & institutional actors instant access to the spectrum of BNP Paribas’ online financial services.

The full article can be read on the Cashforce website.

BNP Paribas also posted an article about the partnership which can be found here: https://group.bnpparibas/en/press-release/bnp-paribas-cashforce-enter-partnership-offer-digital-cash-flow-forecasting-working-capital-services-corporate-treasurers


Cashforce – Cash forecasting & Smart Treasury

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Treasury as a service

| 02-10-2018 | ENIGMA Consulting |

Je zou kunnen denken dat alleen grote bedrijven een liquiditeitsplanning nodig hebben. Dit is echter niet waar. Of je nu een start-up bent, een klein groeiend bedrijf of een middelgrote onderneming op zoek naar innovatie, voor financiering en interactie met kredietverstrekkers is een liquiditeitsplanning erg belangrijk. Als je je nog niet eerder met liquiditeitsplanning hebt bezig gehouden, dan is het verstandig om verder te lezen.

Waarom is er een liquiditeitsplan nodig?

Effectieve liquiditeitsplanning is essentieel voor het succesvol managen van een bedrijf. Het biedt een gestructureerd overzicht van de belangrijkste inkomende en uitgaande geldstromen bij het bedrijf, normaal gesproken over een periode van één tot drie jaar. Er wordt onderscheid gemaakt tussen een liquiditeitsplan dat betrekking heeft op een fiscaal jaar en een liquiditeitsplan dat periodiek wordt aangepast om de laatste ontwikkelingen weer te geven. Een doorlopende planning wordt gebruikt om wijzigingen vast te leggen die bijvoorbeeld kunnen voortvloeien uit verkoop- en kostenvariaties voor de planningsperiode. Jaarlijkse en voortschrijdende plannen worden uiteindelijk vergeleken met werkelijke kasstromen met als doel de verschillen te analyseren en maatregelen te nemen om de liquiditeit te waarborgen.

Wat is het doel van liquiditeitsplanning? Naast het voor de hand liggende antwoord dat het projecties voor de komende maanden en jaren biedt, zijn er andere goede redenen voor liquiditeitsplanning.

  • Basis voor deugdelijke bedrijfsbeslissingen door het management; een van de taken van een directeur is om niet alleen de financiële groei van het bedrijf in de gaten te houden maar ook de solvabiliteit. Een gestructureerd liquiditeitsplan is in dit opzicht een goed uitgangspunt en levert betrouwbare cijfers als basis voor elke strategische beslissing.
  • Bewijs voor geldschieters en aandeelhouders; liquiditeitsplanning speelt ook een belangrijke rol bij het zoeken naar financieringsaanbieders om investeringen te doen, groei te financieren of nieuwe productideeën tot uitvoering te brengen. Een liquiditeitsplan kan de financier (bank or andere kredietverstrekker) aantonen hoe de liquiditeit de komende jaren naar verwachting zal evolueren – bewijsmateriaal dat keer op keer moet worden verstrekt en die voortschrijdende planning kan bieden. Nauwkeurige planning schraagt ​​de reputatie van een bedrijf in de ogen van alle externe partijen – zowel kredietverschaffers als aandeelhouders.

Hoe ingewikkeld is liquiditeitsplanning nou?

Als je zelf op een financiële afdeling werkt en in het verleden te maken hebt gehad met liquiditeitsplanning, bent je waarschijnlijk maar al te bekend met de onderstaande problemen.

Je geeft planningssjablonen aan alle betrokkenen, maar alleen onvolledige informatie – of helemaal niets – wordt geretourneerd. Inzendingen zijn tegenstrijdig of bevatten een verscheidenheid aan eenheden en formaten. Voorgeschreven wisselkoersen worden niet gebruikt, er is geen coördinatie tussen operationeel verbonden eenheden, enzovoort. Als instructies te ingewikkeld zijn of de eisen te zwaar, worden entiteiten vaak overweldigd en gebruiken ze de informatie verkeerd.

Verschillende operationele struikelblokken komen dan snel naar voren. Als instructies niet volledig worden opgevolgd en informatie op verschillende manieren wordt geleverd, is het samenstellen van een plan een moeizame en langdurige exercitie. Gegevens moeten handmatig worden overgedragen, veronderstellingen nauwkeurig onderzocht en indelingen gewijzigd. Een hoge mate van betrokkenheid is vereist als je je aan bepaalde tijdsbestekken wil houden en wil voorkomen dat de gegevens waaraan je werkt worden vervangen door recentere gegevens. Handmatige invoer moet ook door een andere persoon worden gecontroleerd om fouten te voorkomen. Vertragingen worden vaak verwacht en ingebouwd in het schema.

Processen zijn dus ongecontroleerd en inefficiënt en alle partijen verliezen momentum. Het resultaat is vaak een liquiditeitsplan op basis van gegevens die verouderd zijn en dus uiteindelijk onbetrouwbaar.

Hoe kan ik een liquiditeitsplanning eenvoudiger opstellen?

In het tijdperk van digitalisering en globalisering is een voor de hand liggend antwoord op het verbeteren van de efficiëntie en het verbeteren van de onderliggende gegevens het gebruik van software – idealiter een bedrijfsbreed platform waartoe alle relevante werknemers toegang hebben en dat in realtime betrouwbare gegevens levert.

Maar niet alle bedrijven willen dit pad volgen. In plaats daarvan willen vooral kleine en middelgrote ondernemingen een stap verder gaan en herhalende, tijdrovende taken helemaal elimineren.

Ze schrikken terug voor de tijd en moeite die het kost om te investeren in een Treasury implementatie project; ze hebben geen personeel beschikbaar. Ze willen zich gewoon op de business concentreren, zonder een langdurig project te beginnen en nieuwe medewerkers aan te nemen en op te leiden.

Dit zijn allemaal redenen om een ​​deel of de volledige verantwoordelijkheid voor de genoemde problemen over te dragen aan een professionele dienstverlener, bijvoorbeeld door een uitbestedingsoplossing zoals Treasury as a Service (TaaS) van ENIGMA te gebruiken. Vooral als het gaat om liquiditeitsplanning, is er een enorm potentieel om resources te sparen en tegelijkertijd de nauwkeurigheid van gegevens en planningsmogelijkheden te verbeteren.

Kan ik de liquiditeitsplanning outsourcen?

Natuurlijk kunnen wij de liquiditeitsplanning verzorgen. Wij bieden bedrijven een service die liquiditeitsplanning en andere duidelijk omschreven diensten zoals financiële status, betalingen, cash pooling en verrekening op een professionele, veilige en betrouwbare manier verstrekt en ondersteunt. We noemen het Treasury as a Service (TaaS). TaaS biedt een professionele service die het planningsproces bij het bedrijf duidelijk structureert en beheert en daarmee de planningsbetrouwbaarheid binnen het bedrijf verbetert. Transparantie en zichtbaarheid nemen toe, waardoor de reputatie van het bedrijf bij banken wordt versterkt.

Hoe werkt liquiditeitsplanning met TaaS?

ENIGMA zorgt voor alle essentiële vereisten. Wij bieden web based toegang tot een applicatie en wij bieden gecertificeerde hosting- en datacenterprocessen die de nodige beveiliging garanderen. Geen handmatige gegevensverzameling via verschillende communicatiekanalen en de vervelende analyse van gegevens. Verdwenen is ook de onzekerheid over de bron van informatie en de vraag of gegevens wel up-to-date zijn.

ENIGMA biedt een gestandaardiseerd planningsplatform waarop alle bedrijfsonderdelen planningsgegevens kunnen invoeren in overeenstemming met standaard procesinstructies. Het planningsproces is gedocumenteerd door ENIGMA en voldoet daarmee aan essentiële nalevingsvereisten zoals die door het bedrijf zijn opgesteld. Planningssjablonen zijn gestandaardiseerd en gebaseerd op de uitgebreide ervaring van de ENIGMA-consultants. Er worden neutrale categorieën gebruikt die relevant zijn voor elk bedrijf. Planning wordt uitgevoerd op basis van een jaarplan of op maandelijkse basis waarbij wordt uitgesplitst naar valuta. We stellen deadlines voor het hele proces met behulp van onze planningskalender. Nadat de periode voor het invoeren van planningsgegevens is beëindigd en interne coördinatie heeft plaatsgevonden om consistentie te waarborgen, kunnen alle partijen onmiddellijk aan verschillende analyses beginnen. De verschillende plannen kunnen worden vergeleken met de feitelijke situatie of met elkaar en worden onderzocht op verschillen.

Het hoofdkantoor kan geconsolideerde analyses uitvoeren en waardevolle informatie uit de rapporten verkrijgen die nodig is voor financierings- of hedgingbeslissingen. Rolling-planning toont snel veranderingen in de tijd en maakt onmiddellijke interventie mogelijk met gerichte maatregelen. Dit vermindert de blootstelling van het bedrijf aan financiële risico’s.

Wij zorgen voor de handmatige, operationele klussen en het kader; jij houdt je bezig met gegevensinvoer en -analyse. Je hebt een solide basis voor het uitvoeren van verder strategisch werk.

 

 

Frits Touw

Associate at ENIGMA Consulting