2022: A new start?

21-12-2021 | treasuryXL | Cashforce | LinkedIn

Nicolas Christiaen of Cashforce looks ahead to a year of challenge and opportunity for treasury. 

If there is one constant in business, it’s the fact that change will always happen – whether we like it or not. And the past half decade has seen more transformative disruption than much of the previous half century. Markets, models, economies – all have seen seismic shifts. And that’s before we were hit with a global pandemic.

It doesn’t take a soothsayer to predict that the coming year promises to throw up a whole new set of challenges for treasurers across the UK. How they address those challenges may determine how well positioned their businesses are to capitalise on the eventual recovery.

Clearly, the volatility that has characterised the previous two years isn’t going anywhere. What we have seen is that, while many treasurers and their teams have adapted to the new world we are now living in, COVID-19 is not over yet and there is a constant flow of new variables. COVID variants emerge periodically, and the different approaches to containing the virus will continue to cause volatility in the markets.

It’s fair to say that the treasury teams most likely to prosper in the coming year will be those that have not only demonstrated operational transformation or transactional excellence, but those that have also focused on continual improvement and the nuts and bolts of treasury activities – whether that means reviewing risk management processes or implementing new technology.

There’s little doubt that there remains the potential for further disruptions in global supply chains, which will inevitably bolster the demand for more visibility into cash. So, what will that mean for treasurers? From the conversations we’ve had with our clients across a range of sectors, our belief is that scenario analysis will continue to be top of mind for treasury teams over the next 12 months as new macroeconomic variables drive the need for multiple forecasts.

 

Technology for treasurers

 

The key to surviving the uncertainty will be to adopt technology that fits acute needs within a treasury’s view and then to implement it. On the adoption side, it amazes us that in 2021 we still see critical treasury processes and information housed in spreadsheets.

The good news is that the funds available for ‘Office of the CFO’ software as a service solutions (including cash management, treasury and forecasting solutions) have increased and are still growing. Even better is that ‘best-of-breed’ solutions, which typically have lower barriers of entry, are surging, as the ‘one-size-fits-all’ type of solution is shown to be excellent in some areas but simply not viable in others.

Finally, it is also worth noting that the longer we have to live with COVID-19, the more normal it will become to acquire technology in front of a computer screen (rather than meeting face to face).

On the implementation side, internal IT processes and architecture alignments are still a roadblock to implementing even niche solutions. The reason is simple: there is not enough IT capacity, due to a general lack of IT skills in the marketplace. A war for IT resources results in increased internal costs and pushes out project time frames. Digital transformation programs, while beneficial in the long term, seem to guarantee that business users of technology won’t realise tangible benefits for many months. Therefore, more focus should be put on quick wins or proof of concepts and building further from there.

While there are certainly challenges to adopting and implementing technology effectively, the need for visibility (and the automation to support scaling that visibility up), security, validation and auditing has not decreased. We feel that the above will continue to drive conversations with treasury technology providers.

Ultimately, treasurers occupy a unique position: they are, in many ways, the first line of defence in protecting businesses from the headwinds that can buffet them in stormy times. We firmly believe that by adopting the right approach to technology investment, they will continue to play their vital role.

 

Nicolas Christiaen

Managing Partner at Cashforce

 

 

Tame the ghost! Cancellations & currency management in Travel

20-12-2021 | treasuryXL | Kantox | LinkedIn |

How to automate the FX treatment of cancellations

It is no secret that the wave of cancellations following Covid-imposed travel restrictions has been a nightmare for travellers, airlines, hotel chains and tour operators alike. In the United States alone, cancelled domestic flights peaked at 137 thousand in April 2021. Largely due to cancellations, air traffic in Europe in 2021 was barely equivalent to 43% of the level seen before the pandemic.

Given the amount of time and resources devoted to adjusting their refunding policies, many players in the industry are still scared by the ghost of cancellations. But is that fear warranted? Not when it comes to FX management. This is because Currency Management Automation gives travel companies the tools to minimise the P&L impact of cancellations.

When it comes to FX management, the message is crystal clear: the ghost can be tamed.

Cancellations and FX exposure

FX risk management is a process in three phases: the pre-trade, the trade and the post-trade phase. Cancellations are an important element of the pre-trade phase, when the exposure to currency risk is collected and processed. Now, the type of exposure and the way it is managed depends, crucially, on each business’ pricing dynamics (see: “The hidden secret behind the different types of FX exposure”).

In the Travel world, dynamic prices are the norm (see: Currency Management Automation in Travel Distribution). OTAs, Bed banks, Hotel chains, DMCs and others frequently update their FX-denominated prices, and their cash flows are at risk from the moment of the bookings till settlement. For this reason, most Travel distribution firms apply micro-hedging programs that take those ‘firm commitments’ as the key FX exposure item.

This is where cancellations kick in. A cancelled FX-denominated booking diminishes the exposure to currency risk if the corresponding hedge has not been executed, or if an already executed trade is closed out at the same FX rate. Otherwise, there would be a situation of over-hedging. Manually adjusting hundreds or thousands of individual pieces of exposure to their corresponding hedges can quickly become an impossibly complicated task.

Taming the ghost in FX-related cancellations

Currency Management Automation provides treasurers with a number of tools to tame the ghost of cancellations. The first line of defence is to include —as part of business rules defined in the process of FX automation— an automatic cancellation rate. For example, if managers set an average cancellation rate of 10%, Kantox Dynamic Hedging® will hedge the remaining 90% hedge of the bookings.

As more information becomes available, this cancellation rate can be refined and adjusted by management when it so desires. While it is good practice to try and anticipate events, perfect accuracy cannot be expected in matters related to travel cancellations, especially in the current situation. This is why a second line of defence is provided by what our FX automation software takes as ‘negative entries’, a more efficient way to deal with cancellations. Let us briefly see how that works.

An entry is an individual piece of exposure. As part of the implementation phase of the software, risk managers establish a set of business rules that include —for each currency pair— the accumulated value of the entries they wish to hedge. These instructions also include a rule for setting negative entries from their own ERP, Booking Engine or Data Lake in the event of cancellations. API-transmitted negative entries automatically cancel the corresponding FX exposure.

But what happens when a negative entry is pushed after the corresponding hedge has been executed? Not much. Because travel-related FX exposure typically includes hundreds/thousands of individual transactions, new positions are constantly entered for the same currency pair and value date. The more granular the information included in these entries, the more accurate the FX hedging process, and the better the traceability of each piece of exposure.

Conclusion: speed is the name of the game

As the effects of the global pandemic still loom large, the ability to quickly process cancellations is a must for airlines, hotel chains and wholesalers in general. FX management is an integral part of this process — and it relies mostly on automated micro-hedging programs for bookings or ‘firm commitments”.

These micro-hedging programs, in turn, automatically treat cancellations as a key element of the ‘pre-trade’ phase of exposure management. If your aim is to tame the ghost of cancellations —while relieving the finance team from performing repetitive, resource-consuming and potentially risky manual tasks—, FX automation is the starting point.

The time to act is now!

Foreign Exchange Hedging – Putting More Flow into Your Cashflow

16-12-2021 | Xe | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

Volatility in the market creates hedging opportunities. You can more accurately forecast margins, and have peace of mind knowing your costs won’t increase.

Any business that imports or exports goods or services have a foreign exchange requirement. Depending on how large the volume of their orders and/or sales, foreign exchange can significantly impact gross margins and has the ability to derail profit.

Importing costs fluctuate with the value of the local currency – for example, the New Zealand dollar (NZD). In the past 5 years, the NZD has moved by an average of 8% per year. In that same timeframe, if your suppliers either increased or decreased their prices by this amount, most people would do everything possible to try and mitigate the downside. This is a primary value-add of foreign exchange traders and brokerages that have the best interests of their clients in mind.

How to hedge

Volatility in the market creates hedging opportunities. By hedging, you are able to more accurately forecast margins, and have peace of mind knowing your costs won’t increase. This allows you to focus on your core business functions, be they manufacturing, distribution, or otherwise.

A forward exchange contract (FEC) allows you to buy or sell a defined amount of foreign currency on a given date in the future at a defined rate. The disadvantage of an FEC is that you may miss out on favourable market movements. However, since consistently accurate crystal balls aren’t standard issue for any ForEx advisor, the hard part is knowing where the market will go.

Experience, expertise, and depth of information resources are two of the differentiating factors between XE and our competitors.

What stops hedging?

Hedging challenges arise when your forecasts aren’t reliable, and you receive inaccurate information from sales or production advisors. Or perhaps you are running a lean supply-chain and don’t want to commit tying up cash flow to an FEC.

You can incorporate hedging into your budgeting to ensure your costed rates are covered. This prevents a situation where the currency is lower than what you’ve budgeted, and potentially a loss is being made each time you purchase FX.

For exporters, there is even less appetite to hedge. This is partly because the NZD has been strong over the past 5 years against most currencies.

The importance of interest rates

Every country wants their currency lower to attain more from exports. You will hear New Zealand’s Reserve Bank (RBNZ) say they want the currency lower. In their view, having the NZD/USD rate at 65c instead of 75c is a major positive. This isn’t what importers want to hear, but it’s the reality of the foreign exchange markets.

Interest rates dictate currency movements. The RBNZ pays particular attention to inflation, wages, GDP and employment data to make their decisions. But, the NZD is at the mercy of international reserve banks, including the US Federal Reserve and the ECB (European Central Bank).

Conclusion

Volatility is here to stay. Big swings in the market will persist. It’s almost impossible to predict where the markets will move. Yet XE has the people, processes and technology to give your business the best odds of success.

It’s unfair to judge yourself on attaining the very best rate when hedging foreign exchange. Our mantra is to empower businesses to compete to their full potential in international markets.

XE works with over 6,000 clients throughout New Zealand, and several thousand more around the world to help manage foreign exchange requirements to minimise fluctuations on margins. It would be our pleasure to advise you on how to mitigate the impact of currency on your business’ cash flow.


Survey | Anomalous Payments Detection

15-12-2021 | treasuryXL | Nomentia | LinkedIn |

Our partner Nomentia and Netguardians, are conducting a survey for treasury and finance professionals to get a better understanding of the current challenges companies are facing in identifying and preventing anomalous payments. This way, we can provide more relevant solutions and share industry knowledge with the treasury and finance community.

Payments are growing in volume and gaining speed, with “instant payment” gradually becoming the norm. With increasing speed and volume, the risk of processing anomalous or fraudulent payments increases simultaneously. These anomalous payments may be caused by human errors or by fraudulent activities such as fraudsters impersonating CEOs, sending fake invoices, and other scams. This results in both operational and financial losses for the company.

By filling out this survey you will help advance the solutions that are needed to fight anomalous payments. You can fill out the survey completely anonymously. It takes around 5 to 10 minutes to complete the survey depending on the answers you provide throughout the survey.

We thank you for your kind participation!

 

 

Currency Volatility Is A Catalyst for Response by Treasury

15-12-2021 | treasuryXL | Kyriba | LinkedIn |

The Q2 2021 Kyriba Currency Impact Report showed a strong tailwind for many US corporates driven in large part by the strengthening of two main trading currencies for many US corporates, EUR and GBP.

Both currencies strengthened steadily through Q2 2021, but currencies have since retreated through Q3 2021, setting up a return of relatively strong headwinds for the Q3 earnings season.

Euro-US Dollar Rate
British Pound-US Dollar Rate

As we look forward to Q3 and Q4 currency impacts, it is very likely we will see increased levels of negative currency impacts for North American and European corporates as a result of continued business activity expansion combined with the return of a stronger USD and general market uncertainty. The recent impact of the newest COVID variant, Omicron, has also added a new level of uncertainty-driven volatility and questions about how businesses and central banks will respond.

Beyond the general level of market uncertainty there are a few other economic and operational challenges that are adding to the complexity of managing currency risk and liquidity.  With inflationary conditions starting to take hold in the US and other parts of the world, Treasurers and CFOs are having to contend with increasing supply chain costs. In addition, the supply chain disruptions are increasing the uncertainty of business operations. Many treasury teams are far less confident in their long-term cash flow forecasts which has many reconsidering their hedging and liquidity needs.

How are Corporate Risk Managers responding to the currency markets and supply chain disruptions? 

Treasury teams are faced with a complex set of variables in the current market environment. Their long-term cash flow forecasts are less and less reliable due to uncertainty related to supply chain disruptions. The disruptions are impacting both the supply side and the revenue side of the forecasts. There is increased uncertainty around both the value and timing of supply chain cash out flows. On the revenue side, there is also uncertainty around the value and timing of future inflows as manufacturers are having a hard time getting products on the shelves. In addition, the currency markets are adding to the complexity as the USD is strengthening or at least holding strong against a broad basket of currencies.

As a result, many treasury teams are re-focusing on the things they can control. Daily and even intra-day cash position monitoring is the norm now and combining that with an increased focus on FX hedging for working capital positions on the balance sheet are critical best practices to ensure treasury teams have the right amount of cash in the proper currency at the right time to cover vendor and supplier payments and ensure they maintain a strong liquidity position as they ride out the supply chain storm.

Another challenge FX risk managers are having to contend with is the by-product of improper posting of multi-currency transactions within their ERP system(s). When volatile currency markets are creating significant directional moves in various currency pairs, it often uncovers multi-currency accounting posting mistakes as well as missed exposures. This missed exposures and improper accounting postings can results in very surprising results that often create significant FX losses. The most frustrating aspect of these types of FX impacts is that they are entirely self-inflicted.  With proper Exposure Data Integrity Analytics and robust and dynamic exposure capture processes, these self-inflicted currency impacts can be anticipated and avoided.

Ultimately, Treasury teams that can monitor and manage their liquidity and working capital FX exposure in a single integrated platform have a distinct advantage in the current market.

 

Question treasuryXL Panel #4 | When do I pay an FX surcharge to my payment service provider?

14-12-2021 | treasuryXL | EcomStream | LinkedIn |

treasuryXL is the community platform for all your relevant treasury questions.

We received the following question from one of our followers… Read more

2021 Treasury Technology Analyst Report

13-12-2021 | treasuryXL | Gtreasury | LinkedIn |

The 2021 Treasury Technology Analyst Report is the definitive guide to today’s technology for Treasury & Risk Management, Treasury Aggregation, and Supply Chain Finance and Cash Conversion. Request your copy to learn more about these technologies and evaluate how GTreasury stacks up for treasury and risk management.

2021 Treasury Technology Analyst Report

A digital treasury technology evolution is a big undertaking. With so many types of solutions to choose from, it’s hard to know where to start. We recommend you start with this report – The 2021 Treasury Technology Analyst report. It will help you understand the benefits and selection criteria to consider for three types of valuable treasury technology solutions: Treasury and Risk Management Systems (TRMS); Treasury Aggregation Solutions; and Supply Chain Finance and Cash Conversion.

Topics covered in this 64-page report include:

  • The shift to emerging technologies
  • The value of API connectivity
  • The power and value of a networked technology ecosystem
  • Principles of treasury technology selection and implementation
  • Definitions, Challenges/Solutions, Selection Criteria, and the Future of each of the three types of technology.

Request your copy to learn more about these technologies and evaluate how GTreasury stacks up among treasury and risk management platforms.

 

Complete the Form to Get Your Complimentary Copy Now!

 

What should you know about SWIFT system transfers?

09-12-2021 | Xe | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

The SWIFT network is well-known and used by banks around the world, but it may not be the best channel for you to send your money transfers through.

The Society for Worldwide InterbankFinancial Telecommunication (SWIFT) network, which was founded in Belgium in 1973, handles about half of the world’s cross-border fund transfers. As international commerce has grown, the SWIFT network has grown commensurately. It handled about 2.5 million daily transactions in 1995 and more than ten times that many in 2015.

But SWIFT is not a bank. It does not even touch the money which passes along its network. Instead, SWIFT sends payment orders to correspondent accounts at member banks. As such, SWIFT is strictly a bank-to-bank transfer service.

If you’re sending a money transfer with a bank, you’ll become acquainted with the SWIFT system. But is it the best channel to send your money through? We’re not so sure.

What does the SWIFT system mean for you and your money transfers?

  • Added fees. In order to be members and transfer through the SWIFT system, banks are charged SWIFT fees. To counter this, both the recipient and the correspondent bank usually add fees to SWIFT transfers. Somebody, either the sender or the recipient or a combination of both, must pay them.

  • Bad exchange rates. There are some hidden currency transfer costs, at least in most cases. Currency exchange rates vary in different markets and at different times. Banks routinely choose the worst possible currency exchange rate. Then, they quickly move the money to another marketplace and pocket the difference.

  • Long transfer times. As mentioned above, SWIFT completes “most” of its transactions within thirty minutes. In this case, “most” means about half. Some transactions could take several days to process. Other delays, such as large transfer amounts or first-time users, could delay the process even more.

How does the SWIFT network work?

Today, SWIFT connects about 10,000 financial institutions in about 200 countries. That sounds sweeping and impressive. But most of its transfers go through fewer than two hundred banks, brokers, clearinghouses, and corporations.

Furthermore, SWIFT is the industry standard for linguistics and code, even for non-SWIFT institutions like Xe. SWIFT works with various international organizations to set content and format standards for messages and transactions. In other words, the network infrastructure usually handles codes as opposed to account numbers and other sensitive information. That’s one reason SWIFT is so secure.

Another reason the network is secure is that its three data centers in the United States, Switzerland, and the Netherlands communicate with each other via subterranean or submerged cables. These communications channels are difficult to hack.

SWIFT upgraded its network infrastructure in 2001 and again in 2008. Not coincidentally, 2008 was also the year international funds transfer prices went up significantly. As part of the upgrade, SWIFT required all member institutions to replace their bilateral key exchange encryption hardware with a Relationship Management Application. Member banks gladly passed these costs along to consumers.

How secure is the SWIFT system?

2008 was a long time ago in technological terms. The smartphone you had back then, assuming you had one, probably looked like one of those World War I field telephones compared to the one you have now. Yet 2008 was also the last time SWIFT did any major security upgrades.

The network paid the price in April 2016. Hackers used malware to steal about $81 million from the central bank in Bangladesh. The malware intercepted the supposedly unbreakable SWIFT codes and also covered the hacker’s tracks. Perhaps most disturbingly, SWIFT admitted that these thieves, or ones similarly equipped, had tried this before.

A few months later, an Ecuadorian bank sued Wells Fargo after the latter allegedly honored a $12 million fraudulent transfer. Hackers obtained canceled transaction requests, altered the amounts, and submitted them.

Questions continue about the network’s security. Some banks claimed they have lost money to hackers in much the same way. These allegations are under investigation.

Can you make money transfers without using the SWIFT system?

Yes, you can! Many banks and providers utilize the SWIFT system to send their money transfers due to its security, efficiency, and well-established reputation, but some providers instead opt to use other channels (or even create their own channels) to send money transfers.

Do you want an example of one such provider? Well, now that you mention it…

Sending money with Xe

SWIFT might be the largest international funds transfer platform in the world. But in terms of security, efficiency, privacy, and a few other areas, it falls short.

So, if you need a reliable and affordable way to send money overseas to family or friends, give Xe a try. We send money through our own money transfer channels, which means that we aren’t on the hook for additional SWIFT system fees and delays—and neither are you.

But don’t worry: our channels are still completely secure. We adhere to regulatory standards in every country that we do business in, with bank-grade security measures to ensure that your money and information are completely safe


What is holding back blockchain adoption and what should be done?

08-12-2021 | Carlo de Meijer | treasuryXL | LinkedIn

Early this year I wrote a blog about the existing technology challenges that were holding back a more massive adoption of blockchain technology and of possible solutions that may tackle these. Though blockchain has many advantages this technology still has a lot of growing pains to go through before it could unlock its full potential.

So I was wondering where we are now. Gartner showed several times, any new technology – and that is blockchain too – has to go through various stages.

“According to recent surveys, almost 90% of blockchain-based projects still failed.”

 

And that is not strange. For new technologies, it takes a lot of time to get rid of all the challenges and use it to power the modern world. And these challenges are not only technical. What is the way forward?

Challenges

Blockchain technology has been surrounded by plenty of hypes, which makes many business leaders keenly interested in adopting it. Blockchain however faces different blockchain adoption challenges that make them reluctant. These are not only related to technological inefficiencies, but also to the lack of regulation and limited knowledge/awareness. Most of these challenges still need to be addressed and overcome in order for the technology to reach omnipresence and make blockchain a more acceptable technology for all.

 

Technological challenges

Although blockchain technology has a lot of benefits, it still has a number of shortcomings in technological ways, that are preventing a much higher adoption. Bitcoin but also other blockchains are well known for their inefficient technological design, leading to low scalability, lack of speed of the network, high energy consumption and as a result high costs of transactions. Besides, there is a lack of standardisation and interoperability, limiting the chance for different blockchains to communicate with each other. Ethereum tried to cover up a number of these defects, but it is still not enough.

Low scalability
First of all there is the scalability issue. Their limited capacity to scale in order to handle large transaction volumes. This so-called ‘scalability trilemma’ is the main reason why many doubt that blockchain systems would ever be capable of operating at scale. It essentially revolves around the difficulties current blockchain platforms experience when trying to find the right balance between scalability, decentralization and security. In reality, blockchains work fine for a small number of users. But what happens when a mass integration will take place? Ethereum and Bitcoin nowadays have the highest number of users on the network, but they are having a hard time dealing with the situation.

Lack of speed
Another important challenge that should be addressed is the need to increase the processing speeds. When the number of users increases, the network tends to slow down taking more time to process any transactions. This may result in huge transaction fees, making the technology less and less attractive. Also, the encryption of the system could make it even slower. Completing a transaction can take up to several hours or sometimes even days. It is thus most suited for making large transactions where time is not a vital element. This blockchain adoption challenge can become a hurdle soon.

High energy consumption
High energy consumption is a blockchain adoption challenge, especially now with the worldwide climate discussion. Most of the blockchain technologies follow Bitcoins infrastructure and use Proof of Work (PoW) as a consensus algorithm, thereby needing massive computational power, which is very energy-intensive.

This not only limits the opportunities for ordinary people to join PoW networks and hinders decentralization by encouraging the formation of large mining pools, but it also raises environmental concerns. At present, miners are using 0.2% of the total electricity. If it keeps increasing, then miners will take more power than the world can provide. Many organizations are trying to avoid blockchain altogether just for this challenge.

Lack of standardization
A fourth issue that is limiting a more massive blockchain adoption is the lack of standardization. Standards are required for any technology to have a scalable adoption across the globe. All networks which will be using blockchain technology need to speak the same language in order to be understood and to complete the transaction. All new technologies however suffer from this at the beginning till the standards slowly build up from experience.

Lack of interoperability
As more organizations begin adopting blockchain, there is a tendency for many to develop their own systems with varying characteristics (governance rules, blockchain technology versions, consensus models, etc.). These separate blockchains mostly do not work together, and there is currently no universal standard to enable different networks to communicate with each other. Blockchain interoperability includes the ability to share, see and access information across different blockchain networks without the need for an intermediary or central authority. This lack of interoperability can make mass adoption an almost impossible task.

Regulatory challenges

Next to these technological challenges, another big obstacle to blockchain adoption is the lack of regulatory clarity. Existing regulatory regimes are unable to keep up with the rapid development happening in blockchain and crypto. There aren’t any specific regulations about it. So, no one follows any specific rules when it comes to the blockchain.

Initial coin offerings, stablecoins and DeFi protocols have in recent years demonstrated the limitations of current rules and regulations when it comes to handling the sector. There are various challenges caused by this lack of regulation, including criminal activities, lack of privacy, and, although blockchain guarantees visibility as one of its benefits, there is still no security.

Criminal connection/activities
There is the anonymous feature of the blockchain technology that may become a great threat. The nature of the blockchain network is decentralized so that no one can know your true identity. Being anonymous is however quite convenient for illegal transactions. This has attracted criminals leading to various cybercrimes/illegal transactions such as crypto exchange hacks, scam projects, market manipulation asking cryptos in exchange as a ransom or using Bitcoin as a currency in the black market and on the dark web.

Lack of privacy
Privacy is another challenge as far as the blockchain is concerned. One of the greatest strengths of blockchain technology, public blockchain networks in particular, is the transparency that comes from having a record of a network’s transaction history that is public and easy to verify. This is however not always seen as a positive, as it also poses threat to privacy of organisations or the public using it. Many companies that work with privacy need to have defined boundaries. Enterprises, which want to protect their trade secrets and other sensitive information, are therefore reluctant to embrace some of the most prominent blockchain protocols.

Security and trust problems
Security is another crucial topic here that may limit blockchain adoption. Every blockchain technology talks about its security as the main advantage. But like any other technology, blockchain also comes with a number of security risks including coding flaws or loopholes. Ethereum allows developers to implement dApps based on their system. And there have been many dApps based on them. However, most of them seem to have a matter of false coding and loopholes. Users can utilize these loopholes and hack into the system quickly. The resulting lack of trust among blockchain users is another major obstacle to widespread implementation.

 

Educational challenges

Blockchain is still very much an emerging technology, and the skills needed to develop and use it are scarce, while the lack of awareness amongst the large public are challenging the adoption of this technology.

Lack of Adequate Skill Sets
This skills gap is a top challenge. The marketplace for blockchain skills and qualified people to manage blockchain technology is highly competitive. The demand for this qualified staff is enormous but few people have the adequate skills to support such technology, so one has to pay up high salaries.

The expense and difficulty of talent acquisition in this area only adds to the concerns that organizations have about adopting blockchain and integrating it with legacy systems.

Lack of awareness
Though broader awareness of the technology is growing, the majority of organizations are still in the early stages of adoption. Only 12% of participants in a recent survey reported that they are live with either blockchain or blockchain as a service, while 34% of respondents are not even exploring the use of it. But also the majority of the public is still not aware of the existence and potential use of blockchain, while there is lack of proper marketing of this technology.

Blockchain = Bitcoin?
Blockchain is an emerging technology and the distributed ledger technology (DLT)  space is still relatively young. And with crypto price volatility dominating the headlines of mainstream media, it is not surprising that the immense utility the technology has is not well understood by the public. Currently, blockchain technology is almost the same meaning as Bitcoin and remains associated with the dark transactions of money laundering, black trade, and other illegal activities. Before a general adoption is possible, the large public must understand the difference between Bitcoins, other cryptocurrencies, and blockchain.

Ways to accelerate blockchain adoption

As I described in my earlier blog, there are a number of ways to solve the various challenges. Challenges such as inefficient technological design, lack of scalability, low speed, lack of standards and interoperability as well as high energy consumption should be tackled by technology innovations.

The privacy, trust and security issues ask for proper regulation without endangering technology innovations. Lack of skills and poor public perception and awareness should be increased by education and broad information and communication.

Technological improvements

The list of blockchain adoption challenges clearly underlines the need for technological improvements. The sector needs to find ways to address the biggest challenges it is currently facing. In my blog of 28 February 2021 “Blockchain Technology Challenges: new third-generation Solutions” I already explained the various solutions in a more detailed way. So, I am not going to repeat that.

The good news is that, as we saw above, the blockchain community is actively working on solving these technological challenges such as speed and power consumption thereby using improved technology.

Refining consensus algorithms
Proof of Work (PoW) has played a crucial role in bringing the blockchain revolution to the world, but its drawbacks in important areas such as scalability, speed and energy consumption suggest that PoW can no longer support the further growth and evolution of blockchain. Blockchain can utilize other more refined consensus methods to validate the transitions. This has forced Ethereum to start a transition to a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm that requires fewer energy to process.

Layer 2 solutions
The scalability problem can also be tackled by building so-called Layer 2 or off-chain scaling solutions that refer to approaches that allow transactions to be executed, taking some of the load of the main chain, without overcharging the blockchain. There are a number of interesting off-chain solutions ranging from state channels, accelerated chips, side chains to sharding.

State channels
State channels refer to the process in which users transact with one another directly outside of the blockchain, or ‘off-chain,’ and greatly minimize their use of ‘on-chain’ operations, while accelerated chips could be used to speed up confirmation and transaction time.

Sidechains
Another tool to speed up scalability are so-called side chains. These are aimed to reduce the load on a given blockchain by sending transactions via these connected side chains and putting the end state of the transaction on the main blockchain.

Sharding
And there is sharding, a scaling solution of spreading out the computing and storage workload from a blockchain into single nodes. This technology divides a blockchain into many separate areas, called shards, with each shard assigned a small group of nodes to maintain, thereby limiting the transactional lode. Polkadot is one of those examples built around the idea of sharding.

Multi-layered structure
Another solution to upgrade scale is the use of multi-layered structures, which is the isolation of transaction processing and data storage. Main projects are Cardano and CPCChain.

 

Zero-knowledge proofs
To solve the privacy challenge several protocols have been developed as alternatives to Bitcoin’s pseudo-anonymity, such as CoinJoin and Ring Signature.  An interesting tool is a zero-knowledge proof. This is a class of mathematical instruments that can be used to show that something is true without disclosing the actual data that proves it. The Baseline Protocol, for example, utilizes Zero-Knowledge proofs and other cryptographic techniques and instruments to synchronize private business processes via the Ethereum Mainnet while preserving privacy, confidentiality and data security.

 

Private blockchains
The privacy issues, especially for enterprises, that come with the transparent nature of public blockchains can also be avoided by using private networks such as Corda, Hyperledger and Quorum. These networks are designed to support a relatively small number of network participants with known identity, thereby providing the capability of executing private transactions between two or more participating nodes. Since participation in such networks requires permission, they are also called permissioned blockchain networks.

Private blockchain protocols can be used to create practical enterprise-grade solutions capable of connecting multiple companies or separate departments within a company. Participants would get limited access, and all sensitive information would stay private as it should. As an example, to build trust among users, TradeLens (a global logistics network created by Maersk and IBM using the IBM Blockchain Platform) uses a permissioned blockchain to offer immutability, privacy and traceability of shipping documents. 

Hybrid approach
The power of private and public blockchains can also be combined to achieve optimal results. This so-called hybrid blockchain approach involves using a public blockchain to store encrypted proof for all the work that has been done on a private network thereby connecting a small number of known stakeholders.


Standards and interoperability
Over the past few years we have seen an increasing number of interoperability projects meant to bridge the gap between different blockchains. Many of them are aimed at connecting private networks to each other or to public blockchains. These systems will ultimately be more useful to business leaders than prior approaches that focused on public blockchains and cryptocurrency-related tools.

Next to the more well-known examples of cross-chain communications that are most first- or second-generation, like the Bitcoin Lightning Network, the Ethereum Raid Network and the Ripple Interledger Protocol, there is a growing number of interoperability projects that are exploring third-generation solutions, including Cosmos, Neox and Polkadot.  And there is a growing number of projects teaming up in order to allow their blockchains to communicate with each other, aiming at solving the blockchain isolation problem. Main example is the Blockchain Industrial Alliance formed by ICON, AION and Wanchain.

 

Regulatory frameworks
The rapid evolution of blockchain technology has caught regulators around the world by surprise, leaving them scrambling to react to a rapidly growing and changing industry. Though regulators are now taking more and more steps in a growing number of countries to deal with this situation, there is still a lack of a unified approach when it comes to the regulation of the blockchain sector. This has resulted in a regulatory patchwork, with various jurisdictions across the world and sometimes even different regulatory bodies in a single region coming up with their own rules and regulations for the sector.

This problem could be countered by drawing up regulatory frameworks that afford regulatory consistency across larger regions. An example of such a framework is the European Commission’s propose Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MICA), which will introduce an EU-wide regime for crypto tokens. Thereby they are taking a pragmatic approach of regulating the market without harming the technology.

Raising skills quality and awareness
A closer examination of this barrier shows that it is very much connected to an underlying lack of organizational awareness, lack of adequate skills and lack of knowledge and understanding of blockchain technology. As awareness of blockchain technology becomes more widespread, the ability to effectively make a business case for their adoption, might contribute to more massive adoption.

Raising awareness
Considering that distributed ledger technologies are still largely unknown to the public, it is on the blockchain community to inform people about the technology’s design, strengths and utility. Building educational resources, holding webinars and other educational events are some of the ways that blockchain companies can utilize to raise awareness. Initiatives like Coinbase Learn are examples of how some of the world’s leading blockchain companies are working to raise awareness about blockchain technology.

Blockchain-as-a-service
And there is blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) that has the potential to mitigate the blockchain skills barrier. The use of BaaS enables organizations to reap the benefits of blockchain, without having to invest significantly in the expensive blockchain skills. Users only need to know the basics of the technology (not the technological insides) to take advantage. They will for instance need to understand how to execute smart contracts, but they won’t need specialized knowledge about the complexities of distributed ledgers.

Forward-looking
Blockchains are ecosystems that require broad adoption to work effectively. Without widespread adoption, the effectiveness and scalability of blockchains will remain limited. As described in this blog the adoption of blockchain and DLTs depends on solving the various challenges and will require active support from governments and other public organizations. Organizations are increasingly coming together and forming collaborative blockchain working groups to address common pain points and develop solutions that can benefit everyone without revealing proprietary information. There is already a lot of applications and projects live that is working perfectly. Like any technological innovation, the blockchain will continue to evolve. Yes, there may be challenges, but they should not be seen as obstacles. So, as I have shown, all the problems with blockchain will come with solutions and opportunities. There are this good reasons to be optimistic that the adoption of blockchain will grow.

 

Carlo de Meijer

Economist and researcher

 

 

 

 

Source

The Blank Sheet Treasury – a Guideline answering the “How”, “When” and “Why”

07-12-2021 | Jesper Nielsen-Terp | treasuryXL  | LinkedIn

During times of crisis, like the financial crisis in 2009, or the Covid-19 pandemic which still hits us, we often hear the old phrase “Cash is King”. The Treasurer and the Treasury Department are once again back in the middle of the fire by the end of the day. Influenced by the CEO or the CFO, the board of directors is overall responsible for the financial strategic target settings. The tasks and responsibilities flow however from the top management and will end up at the Treasurers’ desk. Therefore, A treasurer has to structure the initial thoughts when building or re-shaping the treasury setup.

To be prepared for the fireplace, I believe that it is crucial for the Treasurer or the Finance Department employees carrying out treasury activities, that a clear strategy is implemented and outlined. Not only a strategy for how the policies and guidelines are carried out, but a strong mandate from Top management and maybe all the way from the Board of Directors. A mandate carved in stone, so no one can be in doubt when something hits the fan.

“Do not ask what the company can do for you, but ask…”

There are a couple of questions that all back-office functions need to ask themselves on a regular basis. The answer to the questions should dictate the activities that are undertaken on any given day. First, they should ask, “Is this activity going to increase the company’s revenue?”.  If the answer is no, they should move on to question number two, “Is this activity going to reduce the company’s cost base?”. Once again, if the answer is no, then they should move on to question number three, “Will this activity delight the customer?”.  If the answers to all three of these questions are no, then we need to examine the activity to understand why we are conducting it.

The Blank Sheet Treasury

In order to understand why the recommendations that follow are applicable, we must decide what it is that we as a Treasury Department are trying to accomplish and why.  There are certain practices in Treasury across the world that should drive our behavior. In examining these practices, one potential structure emerges; the Blank Sheet Treasury. This way we are starting with our objectives and future state in mind instead of our current state.

In my opinion, the future state should equal the Treasurer to be prepared and know how to handle future potential crises, whether it is a business-related financial crisis or a worldwide pandemic.

Coming back to the phrase “Cash is King”, when in the middle of a crisis, everything else than access to cash or cash visibility should be a next day issue for the Treasurer. Stating this should give an idea why I believe the Blank Sheet Treasury always should start within the area of Cash/Liquidity Management, which of course can come in many different flavours.

The initial process

Coming back to the statements about having a focus on future state and the mandates to get there, the initial process visualized below is a tool that the Treasurer needs in his/her toolbox. Maybe not the most innovative tool, but most likely one of the most important tools, if not the most important, when shaping, re-shaping and driving treasury.

The process map works like a Lego building instruction, where there actually is a possibility to skip or change the order, but when doing it, the result will not be what we were aiming for, or even worse than what our surroundings (stakeholders) thought we were aiming for. So if the order somehow is changed or some parts are skipped, it will be similar to an “un-finished” Lego construction. It will in some cases be functional, but there will always be some spare and important “bricks” left on the table. In the Lego context, some left bricks might not make a difference or at least not a huge difference, but in a corporate context the repairment will have a critical impact on time, costs and lost confidence from stakeholders.

The foundation for everything else

Before moving to the discussion on the Leadership mandate and afterwards on daily-life guidelines for the Treasury Department, let’s first make sure that a part of the objectives and future state is the idea that everything is to be accomplished (now or in a few years). Not only will it be a guide for the “how, when and why”, but also because top management, which gives access to the budget, want visibility and take decisions based on valid information.

As the majority of Treasurers and their departments have Cash/Liquidity Management as one of their key deliveries and as the Cash/Liquidity Management highly impacts other workflows in the Treasury Department, it is somehow the foundation for everything else and therefore a good place to start.

This figure is of course not a golden rulebook, and for some Treasury Departments priorities can come in another order. But when talking to Treasurers about their priorities and building or re-shaping their setup, the figure outlines to a great extent how they see the structures and how they want to manage the process of reaching the end line.

Best Practise and Future Workflows

Each of the circles has some underlying characteristics and is decomposed into a number of workflows. Here, the objectives for the future state and best practise will come into play.

In this recommendation, Cash Management is identified as the foundation for other workflows. Next to that, when looking into job descriptions and talking to Treasurers about their key objectives,  FX Risk Management is identified to be high on the agenda. Therefore, the following graphs will assist the visualizing and guidance of Cash and FX Risk Management.

 

The Best Practise box has to be filled out by the company (the Treasury Department), based on their needs and very much linked to the Objective/Future State. The question asked here is; ‘’Does the Company actually know what is the best practise in each of the workflows or could there actually be multiple solutions for the Best Practise?’’

The answer for both questions will for the majority of companies be that the Treasury Department has some thoughts and ideas for what they see as Best Practise for their setup, but at the same time they will recognize that a solution for the future state and the Best Practise for this, can come in different varieties – it is not a One Size Fits All. When agreed on the Best Practise for the future state, it will then be time to start visualizing the future workflows, which will give some thoughts and ideas for what actually has to be built, changed and implemented.

 

One of the pitfalls to avoid here is to not look too much into what worked in the past and in addition avoid looking at single workflows (in this example Cash and FX Risk Management).
As a normal part of being a human being, there can be a significant probability to start applying what worked well in the past, because the Treasurer might have some experience or preferences from similar projects. Thus, there will be a tendency of implementing the same workflows and systems used in the past, even though they do not fit into the entire puzzle.

 


The entire puzzle

Likewise in our own lives, the CFO wants to see the full picture and understand the full picture, before opening up the purse and increasing capital expenditure. With this in mind and the objective of getting a budget, do not only look into the short-term and easily reachable targets but think big and layout the entire puzzle. Still continue to grab the low hanging fruits though, because they are to be grabbed in order to keep momentum.

What is the entire puzzle and how can it be shown in a simple, but the informative structure, so no one will be in doubt of the individual workflows on the journey of reaching the objectives and creating a best-in-class treasury setup.

To assist in laying out the entire puzzle, all workflows will be identified and structured by their “Value” and “Importance”. Therefore, the below chart can be the guide for where to start as well as be used in the dialogue with the CFO and other stakeholders. Once again it is important to state that the chart is not a golden rule book, but an inspiration for how to make progress on the journey.

 

The red box will obviously be the initial most wins and the focus areas. Even though most wins have been identified, the entire puzzle is still unfinished, because it is actually laying like a puzzle.

The box has been unpacked and the puzzle pieces have been sorted.  The next step for the Treasury Department will be to make the final move and bring their game plan. A game plan is divided into a number of streams showing the how, when and why.

*Policies/Procedures are in the initial phase not a part of the Blank Sheet Treasury, but as stated above in each of the streams as it is something that needs to be in place when start implementing.

 

Using streams and a given timeline for each of the streams as well as combining the different areas and the workflow process identified, the Treasurer now has made a construction manual for how to implement a best practise setup for the future state.

When utilizing some or maybe all of the recommendations and figures in this article, it will be possible for the Treasury Department to start taking the dialogue with the CFO and potentially other stakeholders, who need to be involved in the process. Because when being able to identify the how, when and why, and showing the entire process and the needs, the CFO can see the entire picture. A picture that can be used when moving into the next section, where mandates will be given to the Treasurer and a budget needs to be allocated.

Additional considerations

When using a Blank Sheet Treasury setup, the probability of succeeding is higher if no planning has been made. Moreover, the Treasurer needs to consider whether or not the right resources are in place when moving into the building, crafting or re-shaping the phases. When talking about resources, it will both be human resources and resources in terms of systems.

In terms of human resources, it can be internal resources, such as treasury and/or IT people, or external resources, such as treasury consultants. Speaking about consultants, it might be worth considering. Even though it comes with a cost, advantages are gained in time and knowledge.

On the system side, the Treasurer will have to decide whether or not he/she can bring his/her plan to live with the existing system landscape, and if not, the process will have to be added with a suggestion to make changes to the current system landscape.

Thank you for reading and looking forward to your thoughts.

 

 

Jesper Nielsen-Terp

Treasury & Risk Management Expert