Mobile finally makes treasury easier

| 20-7-2017 | Udo Rademakers |

On the 12th of May 2017, in GTnews an article has been placed regarding “Mobile finally makes treasury easier”. The article describes how Citibank is working to replace tokens with mobile phones and testing a multitude of options for finding a more convenient solution.

I am used to work with multiple tokens with a variety of passwords and different kind of banking applications/websites. For some of the banking sites, authorisation of payments via a smart phone was quite difficult and working from the desktop was required. A way of solving the „multiple token issue”, is using a third party provider which (re)connects all payments via (cloud based) multi-bank platforms, however this is not needed for each and every Treasury department.

If banks are working on an easy authorisation method via modern, smart and above all secure technology (like digital fingerprint ), I am confident that the payment control and executions for most Treasurers (and CFO`s) will improve. Especially for the ones who are frequently travelling. If the improved –token free- payment authorisation process could be integrated with the process of obtaining information, input & approval of transactions, viewing of balances including „smart alerts“, corporate banking via mobile technology will reach the next stage in the area of cash management as well.

However, even with the greatest solutions in place, an outage of mobile network or running out of battery remains a risk – now the holiday season started perhaps anyway good to be offline for a while.

 

Udo Rademakers
Independent Treasury Consultant & Interim Manager

 

 

 

Treasurers to be the strategic super-heroes for their CFO

|3-4-2017 | GTNews | Lionel Pavey | Udo Rademakers |

Treasurers to be the super-hero for their CFO? We found this article headline on GTNews.com so intriguing that we asked our experts Lionel Pavey and Udo Rademakers to comment on it. According to the article the role of the treasurer has to be re-evaluated due to the fact that deal-making (figures of mergers and acquisitions have increased) is high on the global agenda. Traditionally treasurers focussed on informing the C-Suite and the board and integrated systems and processes after decisions about a deal were made.  Treasurers started to address this issue, which led to a new role of the treasurer, in fact a much more strategic role. The treasurer was no longer a risk manager, but also a ‘business change enabler ‘.  GTNews states: ‘The treasurer who opens this door is truly aligning themselves to the needs of the chief financial officer (CFO).They’ll be a superhero.’

Expert Lionel Pavey added some valuable information on the 4 different stages of a M&A proces.

Targeting

  1. Examine the different methods of payment – cash, debt, equity
  2. Discretely ascertain interest rate levels if using debt
  3. What are the effects of additional debt on the existing bank covenants and financial ratios
  4. Complete takeover or just buying a business unit or division?

Negotiating

  1. Examine the cashflow forecast of the target
  2. Examine any documentation on outstanding loans
  3. Existing pledges – Letter of Credit, Bank Guarantees, financial contracts, contingent liabilities
  4. Outstanding debtors, creditors, taxes etc.

Closing

  1. Detailing the bank accounts
  2. Either merging the bank accounts or creating new accounts at the time of closing
  3. Agreeing all bank balances and outstanding claims
  4. Receiving detailed cashflow forecast for the first 2-3 months after closing date
  5. Combining the new cashflows with the existing forecasts
  6. Arrange any agreed financing

Integration

  1. Close all existing facilities and services that will be no longer used
  2. Ensure the new data is present in the book keeping system
  3. All counterparties are informed of new bank accounts
  4. All authorized personnel have access to new banking systems

Expert Udo Rademakers states:
The posting at gtnews.com  points out where treasurers could add value in M&A activities. Unfortunately, in too many cases, treasurers had been brought into M&A transactions rather late: at a stage where the acquisition already had been concluded and where the treasurer only gets involved in “getting the deal done”.

As pointed out in the article, this is often a missed chance for the company and also for the treasurer of not adding more strategic value. Apart from that, the sooner the treasurer gets on board, the better the company can prepare for this kind of rather complicated transactions. It enabled the treasurer as well to act on a tactical level in order to support the M&A transaction in a cost efficient and well documented way.

What strategic value could the Treasurer bring?

  1. value the target company or the combined entity as a whole based on CF projection models
  2. evaluate the capital mix (cash, debt, equity)
  3. evaluate borrowing capacity/credit lines (low risk, best price)
  4. evaluate the country risk
  5. creating the funding flow overview and analyze this (timing of transactions)
  6. evaluate credit- and forex risk (natural hedging possibilities, consider to pay as much as possible from     “restricted countries” in order to decrease your restrained cash)

If the treasurer has been on board for the strategic part, he is well informed and able to manage the tactical part systematical as soon as the effectuation of the transaction takes place.

The treasurer needs to arrange (if applicable):

  1. temporary limit increase with banks
  2. forex transactions (increase of in- and external limits if needed)
  3. time critical payments to agencies, funding parties, seller, capital injections etc. : validate account information, prepare correct timing of the flow (cut off times, correct payment details and descriptions, etc.)
  4. documenting of all transaction in a systematic way and liaise with all in- and external parties involved.

Especially in high demanding environments where one transaction takes place after the other, mistakes will be made and processes might not be well documented. Obviously this could lead to higher risk and additional costs and lots of additional (correcting) work afterwards. Having a well prepared, skilled treasurer on board could avoid this.

Hence the comparison with a superhero…

Conclusion

Involve the treasurer from the first step
Draw up a detailed project plan for M&A and ensure that it is signed off by Board of Directors
Implement project plan for every M&A
Identify all costs linked to M&A
Highlight any cost savings and/or efficiencies

Lionel Pavey

 

Lionel Pavey

Cash Management and Treasury Specialist

 

 

 

Udo Rademakers

Independent Treasury Consultant & Interim Manager

 

 

 

 

EUR/USD beweging na de verkiezingen in Italië

| 6-12-2016 | Udo Rademakers |

foreign-currencyWaar zondagnacht (11 PM Amsterdamse tijd) de EUR/USD nog een aardige push omlaag kreeg vanwege de ‘Italië-uitkomst’, is dit weer ongedaan gemaakt tijdens de Europese openingsuren. Van paniek is geen sprake, aangezien een beweging van een cent relatief gezien gering is.

Politici haasten zich wederom met uitspraken dat Italië een sterk land is, er is toewijding alom, en er wordt gezegd dat een  ‘nee-stem van Italië geen stem is tegen de EU’ enzovoorts. Echter, het valt moeilijk te ontkennen dat Europa in instabiel vaarwater verkeert. Forex koersen op de (zeer) korte termijn worden vooral door de publicatie van economische data, politieke onzekerheid, aanslagen en dergelijke beïnvloed. Deze bewegingen vinden plaats binnen langere termijn trends (waves).

De EUR/USD beweegt zich sinds februari 2015 grofweg in een range van 1,05 (onderkant) en  1,15 (bovenkant). Vooral in de laatste 3 weken is de EUR/USD relatief sterk gedaald (van 1,11 naar 1,05). De support heeft daardoor (tijdelijk?) zijn werk gedaan. Echter, ik verwacht dat binnenkort richting wordt gekozen (en dan richting het Zuiden) , de volatiliteit toeneemt en ‘sell the rallies’ een interessante strategie kan zijn op het huidige niveau van 1,0720.

Een sensibilisatie van ‘risk awareness’ bij de afdelingen inkoop, verkoop en de CFO heeft een sleutelrol. Mede gezien bovenstaande, bied mij dit een gelegenheid om ook in mijn huidige opdracht een nadruk te leggen op valutarisico´s en dit een integraal onderdeel te maken van een degelijke, actuele  ‘STP multi currency forecast’ die snel te implementeren is om bij toenemende volatiliteit de kans op „negatieve verrassingen“ beperkt te houden.  De volgende stap is om met SMART indicatoren de risico´s waar nodig af te dekken en zelfs te kunnen profiteren van de huidige omstandigheden (middels opties bijvoorbeeld).

Udo RademakersUdo Rademakers – Independent Treasury Consultant & Interim Manager

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Payment fraud – Leoni case

| 30-08-2016 | Udo Rademakers |

wolkenkrabberAt the 5th of August I wrote an article regarding payment fraud. Not even two weeks later, Leoni, an automotive company in Germany with EUR 4.5b turnover, has been the victim of massive fraud where USD 40m has been wired … to a crime organization. “Leoni realized it had become the victim of fraudulent activity with the help of falsified documents and identities and the use of electronic communication channels,” the firm said. (source: dw.com)

Most probably, this has been done via the so called “Fake President Fraud”: an employee receives a top secret message from the “CEO” with the instruction not to discuss this request with anyone else and to make a high value wire (to an account abroad). Obviously, the money flows into a crime organization.

Currently I am working in Germany where one sees (including myself) an increase in these kinds of attempts. I suspect that most of the cases don’t make it into the paper however.

I refer to my article what measurements could be taken to avoid payment fraud, but would advise corporates as well to make a “quick scan”, as a lack of transparency and decentralization of payments increases the opportunity for fraud and cybercrime:

1. Do you centrally manage and control payment workflows?

2. Are payment workflows consistent within the group?

3. How many payment initiation systems do you run within your group and are limits and processes aligned?

4. Do you link your payments to your Cash flow forecast?

If all of the above questions can be answered with “yes” and the payment systems are limited, some risks are reduced and therewith “Leoni-cases” will hopefully be avoided.

Udo Rademakers

 

Udo Rademakers

Independent Treasury Consultant & Interim Manager

Uitgelicht: Banken overwegen cash op te slaan in kluizen om ECB te ontwijken

| 22-08-2016 | Olivier Werlingshoff, Udo Rademakers, Douwe Dijkstra, Roger Boxman |

 

Afgelopen week verscheen het bericht dat onder andere de ING bank serieus heeft overwogen om geld in cash op te slaan in kluizen om zo de maatregelen van de ECB te ontwijken. De ECB vraagt een ‘boete’ wanneer banken hun geld willen opstallen. De gedachte hierachter is dat financiële instellingen meer geld uitlenen en de economie zo gestimuleerd wordt. Niet alle banken beschouwen het opslaan van cash geld in kluizen als een serieus alternatief. (bron: rtlz.nl) Wat vinden onze experts?

 

Olivier WerlingshoffOlivier Werlingshoff
“Ik denk niet dat het opslaan in kluizen een optie is. Dit is ook in strijd met het doel van de negatieve rente die de ECB heeft ingevoerd. Als banken het geld in cash gaan opslaan, heeft dit stimuleringsmiddel van de ECB geen zin. Ik begrijp echter wel dat banken naar deze optiemogelijkheid kijken. Zij zitten klem tussen aan de ene kant de interne regels van risico’s en rendementen bij het uitgeven van leningen en aan de andere kant de druk van de ECB om meer te gaan uitgeven.”

 

 

udorondUdo Rademakers
“Er zijn momenteel partijen die geld zelf opslaan om in worst-case-scenario geld achter de hand te hebben. Het omzeilen van de negatieve (en wellicht nog verder dalende) rente helpt een handje om met de gespaarde kosten de opslag te financieren. Indien veel partijen voor zo´n type oplossing zouden opteren, kan dit druk opleveren bij de ECB. Echter, de ECB zou hierop kunnen reageren door nieuwe, versnelde regelgeving tot inperking van cash opslag in te voeren (lees: een verbod). Dit lijkt ondenkbaar, maar de centrale banken hebben vaker voor verrassingen gezorgd in het verre en recente verleden…

Ik zie de rentepolitiek van de ECB momenteel meer als een “belasting op vermogen” (wat in zeer veel jaren is opgebouwd) dat zal leiden tot een stimulering van de economie. Tot nu toe heeft de trukendoos van de ECB tot een uitstel van executie geleid en weinig langdurige effecten gesorteerd.

Overigens heeft de ECB besloten om de productie van EUR 500 biljetten einde 2018 te beëindigen (onder het mom dat deze biljetten voor criminele doeleinden worden gebruikt).
Zou dat een andere mogelijke reden zijn om geld opslaan lastiger te maken? In deze tijden van onzekerheid is diversifiëring mijn devies.”

 

 

douwedijkstrarondDouwe Dijkstra
“Persoonlijk vind ik het cash in kluizen opslaan een nauwelijks serieus te nemen optie. Banken maken nog zoveel marge op wel verstrekt krediet dat de aan de ECB te betalen negatieve rente eerder peanuts is dan dat het “vreet aan de winst van de banken”. Beter kunnen banken hun kredietverlenende taak serieus nemen in plaats van aanhoudend aanvullende KYC (Know Your Client) uit te vinden om daar hun klanten mee lastig te vallen.”

 

 

Roger Boxman
rogerrondEen goedkopere manier om van overtollig kasgeld af te komen is om leveranciers of werknemers eerder te betalen. Geld in kluizen opslaan kan uiteraard wel maar is kostbaar. Zeker nu de biljetten van € 500 zijn afgeschaft.

 

Uitgelicht: De medewerker als medeaandeelhouder

| 11-08-2016 | Udo Rademakers, Simon Knappstein |

crowd

 

Deze week verscheen er een opiniestuk in het Financieele Dagblad waarin gesteld wordt dat medewerkersparticipatie een belangrijke bijdrage kan leveren aan de verkleining van de tegenstelling tussen arbeid en kapitaal. Door de medewerker in de rol van medeaandeelhouder te plaatsen zullen de belangen van aandeelhouders, onderneming en medewerkers meer op één lijn komen, aldus de schrijver van het artikel. Wij vroegen experts Udo Rademakers en Simon Knappstein naar hun mening.

 

udorondUdo Rademakers – Treasury Consultant

“Het laten participeren van medewerkers in de onderneming kan zorgen voor enerzijds meer betrokkenheid door de medewerkers en anderzijds bind je ze langer aan de onderneming (wegens clausules dat bij ontslag je participaties vervallen). Door een grotere groep mensen te laten participeren, is de kans op „gemotiveerde“ medewerkers“ die naar hetzelfde doel toe werken groter.

Er zijn de laatste jaren excessen geweest waar het top-management van bedrijven enorme geldsommen hebben ‘gecashed’ en de „normale medewerker“ met lege handen is blijven staan (of zelfs de baan verloren heeft). Het verschil in macht, maar door de participatiestructuur in dit soort gevallen, ook een duidelijk verschil in doelstelling, maakt de financiële kloof tussen arm en rijk alleen maar groter en is vanuit mijn optiek lastig te verdedigen.

Door participaties als een salaris component te integreren, maak je de medewerkers meer “entrepreneurs” en uiteraard zijn er mensen die liever kiezen voor vastigheid. Afhankelijk van de doelstelling van het bedrijf en de strategie, zou je hierdoor verschillende typen mensen aan je bedrijf kunnen binden.”

 

simonknappsteinrondSimon Knappstein – Owner of FX Prospect

“Het artikel stelt dat medewerkersparticipatie (personeelsaandelen) de tegenstelling tussen arbeid en kapitaal bij door private equity gefinancierde bedrijven kan verkleinen. Dat lijkt me theoretisch misschien mogelijk, maar praktisch gezien een onrealistisch idee.

Bij beursgenoteerde ondernemingen met personeelsaandelen- en optieplannen is de zeggenschap van het personeel op die manier de facto ook nul. Ik verwacht niet dat zoiets bij private equity opeens anders zal zijn. Om het extreem te stellen, het beetje koerswinst op je personeelsaandeel gaat niet compenseren voor het verlies van je baan wanneer door overmatige schuldfinanciering het bedrijf moet gaan reorganiseren.”

Zal medewerkersparticipatie de tegenstelling tussen arbeid en kapitaal bij , door private equity gefinancierde, bedrijven verkleinen? Laat ons jouw mening weten en laat hieronder een reactie achter.

How to avoid payment fraud?

| 05-08-2016 | Udo Rademakers |

Generally speaking, most of the fraud cases don’t make it into the paper because companies are so embarrassed that they choose to keep the affair quiet instead. In some cases however, amounts are too substantial to hide and corporates (need to) publish. One case has been published some months ago by Accell, a Dutch listed company. This triggers us again and brings us to the question: how can we control / “treasure” corporate cash the best and avoid possible fraud?

Fraud case

January 2016:
Press release Accell: Accell Group confronted with theft in Taiwan

Financieele Dagblad (Dutch newspaper): Fabrikant Accell voor miljoenen bestolen door Taiwanees

Accell had to publish a fraud case: according to the Annual Report “an employee could circumvent and misuse the availability of certain payment facilities by misappropriation of systems, processes and trust”. It led to a possible loss of EUR 4 million.

In my work as Treasury Consultant, I have seen more cases where in- and external fraud (almost) took place. All cases have been settled “internally”, however, the learnings out of it were huge.

How can your company avoid losing cash by fraud, or more generally, also avoid human errors?

Without going into too much detail, avoiding fraud or mistakes is avoidable by defining clear Accounting and Internal Control Systematics and sticking to those rules. A fraud is almost never 100% avoidable, but the aim should be to find a balance between the risk on fraud, possible impact and costs (or keeping procedures still “workable”).

Define a “Static” Supplier Data process

  • Separate the Master Data responsibility from the Finance area (Segregation of Duties) with clear defined restrictions
  • Request supplier for original documents/data, verify and capture them
  • Capturing of data should be done by a limited number of employees and with segregation of duties (4 eyes principle)
  • Data should be protected and only be possible to amend via a standardized process (by limited number of employees)
  • Documentation

Define a Payment process (stand-alone banking system)

  • Create standardized payment templates (and make sure this cannot be amended)
  • Reduce the number of banks / bank accounts (less systems, less procedures, etc.)
  • No ad-hoc payments should be allowed (or only with additional secured processes)
  • Define limits according to authorization matrices (per person, department, per day, etc.)
  • Define clear segregations of duties
  • Documentation
  • Transparency

If HQ prefers having full cash control, one way could be to let payments only be released by the treasury department. Another way is to define certain limits on local level and higher limits at HQ. Still the 4 eyes principle (or 6 eyes) should be in place for accepting payments content-wise.

Define a Payment process (interfaced out of your ERP system)

  • Make sure the interface from the ERP system to Payment system is secured where data cannot be amended while being stored on a server or in the payment system itself)
  • Automate the process, no manual intervention should be required

Control cash outflow by comparing it to your Cash Flow Forecast

(see as well my posting of May 2016)

  • Automated reporting of cash balances (MT940/MT942) to Group Treasury
  • Analyze daily variations and link it to the forecast
  • Link the annual budget to the annual CFFC (and analyze the delta regularly)
  • Review on a weekly or monthly base your cash variations and analyze it

In case of any questions, business cases or other questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Udo Rademakers

Udo Rademakers

Treasury consultant

 

Talk of the day: German Bund Yield Below 0%

| 15-06-2016 | Udo Rademakers, Rob Söentken, Douwe Dijkstra & Lionel Pavey |

german bund yield below 0

 

For the first time ever the German bund yield hit negative territory. The ‘Deutsche Welle’ writes: “With the prospect of Britain leaving the European Union looming ever larger ahead of referendum in 9 days, global investors are increasingly fleeing to safe havens such as German debt and Japenese currency. As a result, the yield on Germany’s benchmark 10-year debt fell into negative territory for the first time in its history on Tuesday. ” (DW.com) We asked some of our experts to give their opinion on this news:


Udo Rademakers
“Billions of Euro´s are invested into sovereign debt, even if meanwhile investors need to pay for this. German yield prices can meanwhile compete with Japan and Swiss rates (all below 0). The mainstream media explains this development as “concerns about the economic and political risks of a Brexit” and “concerns about the state of global growth”. However, the longer term trend since the 1980´s has been downwards and we now see a kind of (last?) acceleration in price.

Knowing the challenges Europe (and Germany) is facing, I think it is a matter of time before we could expect a spike in the rates again….. .I would place my bet in other markets.

Every trend is coming to an end…….”

Rob Söentken                                                                                                   
“Not even a month ago markets were discounting the impact of the Brexit referendum. Now in a matter of weeks the odds have swung back from around 25% in favor of leaving to 42%. The increased media attention and figures (true or false) being thrown around are making voters run to register to vote. Apparently it’s mostly younger voters, who tend to be more in favor of staying. It is said that a turnup above 60% is favorable to the ‘remain’ vote. Still both camps are becoming more and more committed.

The downside for GBP vs EUR is probably the biggest risk. If the UK leaves the EUR, UK equities may dip sharply, but will likely recover because of the prospect of more independent monetary and economic policy. Interest rates will probably start rising to incorporate the increased independence risks. But the GBP as a currency may dip an absolute 10% or more, anticipating asset sales from foreign investors. Investors will fear the UK will become like Italy and France in the past: a country that needs to devalue its currency on a regular basis to offset internal rigidities and inefficiencies.”
                 Douwe Dijkstradouwedijkstrarond
“Who would have thought this a few years ago, the interest rate on 10- year German government bonds below zero percent. For some time we hear our banks and advisors recommending to fix our interest rate exposure because its “now or never”.

However, anyone who has fixed already acted too early. For one of my clients I’m busy to Blend & Extend their current IRS contracts, fixing the interest rate for 7 years. Afterwards too early? Nobody knows. I think my client will have no regrets rather ” sooner than later”!”

Lionel Pavey

lionelrond
“Possible reasons:

  • Flight to quality – investors looking to place their money in a safe place
  • Brexit referendum – polls suggest chance of exit greater than ever leading to uncertainty
  • Quantitative easing – ECB policy of buying government bonds pushes bond prices up and decreases the yield

More on this topic in my article which will be published on Friday.”

What’s your opinion on this news? Let us know in the comment section below.

Cash flow forecasting (CFFC)

23-05-2016 | by Udo Rademakers |

In recent years and months, we have seen quite a few companies coming into liquidity problems, leading in worst case scenario to insolvencies. This brings us to the question: how important is cash flow forecasting? How to anticipate adequately and to avoid facing “surprises” at the last moment and how should you implement it?
The Cash flow forecast (CFFC) estimates the timing and amounts of cash in- and outflows over a specific period and in different time buckets (day, week, month, year). It provides you with an actual overview of the cash position and with a forecast.

Why is a cash flow forecast important?

  • based on the CFFC you can assure the timely payment to your suppliers, employees and finance providers (at all times as you want to avoid liquidity problems!)
  • it can act as a management tool and “early warning system”
  • the analysis of actuals versus forecast helps you to identify possible problems  (e.g. delay in invoicing to customers, late payments to suppliers)
  • the analysis of forecasts versus forecast helps you to identify the trend and to understand the business much better
  • the aggregated information shows if you are able to cover your financial obligations towards finance institutions/investors in the longer term and if your cash flow could meet the covenant targets or whether there will be a breach of credit facility limits. In case of a “cash rich” position it helps you to decide how much money and for which period you could invest it
  • A CFFC helps to identify foreign exchange exposures and it supports hedging decisions.

How to implement a CFFC?

Depending on the turnover, leverage, growth, systems, number of employees, internationality and currencies, the approach (and time effort) should fit the size of the organisation.

Cash flow forecasting often doesn’t have priority within organisations. However, as a treasurer, we realize the added value and need of it but also do realize that making a good CFFC could cost a lot of (time) effort. So how could we get a timely and reliable CFFC process in place without using all precious time of the finance managers?

  1. automate where possible: use either sophisticated spreadsheets, but even better, a sophisticated web based application or use the functionalities of your Treasury Management System (and fine-tune it)
  2. import centrally (via MT940) the actual banking balances where possible
  3. use your (invoice payment due dates) AP/AR data for the short term FC
  4. let fill out the “gaps” by finance managers based on their business knowledge
  5. make sure everyone reports the latest data in time with an explanation of high impact changes and actual versus realisation differences
  6. undertake actions where needed
  7. consolidate the data, analyse the information and report the highlights to the senior management on a regular basis.

 

 

 

Udo Rademakers

Treasury Consultant