Tag Archive for: treasury management

Online Round Table: COVID-19 Reality Corporate Treasurers

| 15-05-2020 | VU Amsterdam |

This is a cost-free online event on 24 June 2020 and will start at 7:00 PM CET.

What is the covid-19 reality for corporate treasurers in various environments and how to deal with this new reality?

This is the topic of the Corporate Treasurers Online Round Table that will be organized by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for potential students and alumni of the postgraduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance programme. Four experienced and educated registered treasurers (RT) will speak from their experience and, in dialogue with the participants, try to look into the future.

Speakers work in various industries: retail, tourist, trading, logistics and manufacturing, which all feel covid-19 consequences in their own way. They will inform the audience how their first reaction was and that of their company. About how they manage the crisis and show resilience, how they recover from first effects, and how they have adjusted or will adjust to the new reality.

Event details

The event will take place in the evening and will last 75 minutes. The round table will be kicked off with brief introductions and presentations. Input from participants is expected and appreciated. Just like classes at the university, interactions will connect theory & day-to-day reality and raise the quality of the round table. All are expected to leave the event with practical do’s and don’ts. Herbert Rijken on behalf of the VU will be your host, Pieter de Kiewit will moderate the session.

Date, time and pre-registration

This is a cost-free online event on 24 June 2020 and will start at 7:00 PM CET. As this is an interactive event, the organizer, VU Amsterdam, has the right to select who can (not) join. Further details will be shared with participants in due time.

 

Pre-register here 

 

 

 

 

Online Open Evening: Treasury Management & Corporate Finance by VU Amsterdam

| 30-04-2020 | VU Amsterdam |

VU Amsterdam, will host an Online Open Evening on May 13, to provide you with the opportunity to get to know more about the post-graduate programs. You will have the opportunity to ask questions by means of an online livestream webinar.

Continue to read about the Treasury Management & Corporate Finance program, and to register for the Online Open Event on Wednesday May 13, 2020 from 18:15 pm to 19:15 pm CEST.

Treasury Management & Corporate Finance

The post-graduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance program combines two finance disciplines, as these disciplines are inextricably connected and largely overlap:

  1. Treasury Management
  2. Corporate Finance.

It is a unique program that has been running for more than 20 years at VU Amsterdam. The curriculum consists of 6 modules, each comprising approx 8 lecture days on Thursdays (from 15:30 – 20:00). It is an intensive and efficient 18-month program. Participants successfully completing this post-graduate executive program are awarded with the title of Registered Treasurer, a well-known and widely recognized within the world of Treasury professionals.

This program offers the following key benefits

  • Broad perspective on the Corporate Treasury and Finance disciplines
  • Master level and state of the art
  • Interactive Sessions
  • Useful Career development opportunities in a different setting
  • Get Connected to the treasury community

In order to learn more about this program, ask questions during a livestream webinar, get to taste the experience at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, our Partner VU Amsterdam, invites you to join the Online Open Evening.

Program

  • 18:15 hrs: Welcoming ☕
  • 18:30 hrs: Information on Treasury Management & Corporate Finance
  • 19:15 hrs: End of session

Date, time and registration

Date: 13 May, 2020

Start: 18:15 – 19:15 CEST

Register Now and safe your virtual seat

 

 

 

BELLIN Launches SWIFT g4C Product Offering

| 30-07-2019 | BELLIN |

BELLIN, a global leader in providing treasury software and services, has successfully integrated SWIFT gpi for Corporates (g4C) in its tm5 treasury management system and completed the pilot and Early Adopter phase. With the BELLIN SWIFT product offering extended, all BELLIN clients can now benefit from fast cross-border payments as well as tracking directly in the tm5 system.

tm5, BELLIN’s treasury management system, has supported SWIFT g4C technology since as early as April, making BELLIN the first of the TMS provider Early Adopters with a customer live on g4C. SWIFT has now officially launched gpi for Corporates, enabling all users of the BELLIN SWIFT Service to consider benefiting from transparency and traceability for cross-border payments. Corporates need their own SWIFT BIC to make use of the SWIFT g4C technology. They register their BIC with gpi for Corporates and connect financial institutions that offer g4C. Started Monday, June 24, 2019, the entire SWIFT community can register their BICs for the new SWIFT g4C technology.

SWIFT g4C from pilot to live

“All of us, our clients, BELLIN and SWIFT, are bound by the desire to advance corporate payments. This is why we have worked hard in a concerted effort to implement SWIFT g4C technology,” explains Karsten Kiefer, Product Manager SOLUTION MANAGEMENT at BELLIN. “With SWIFT g4C, corporates will benefit enormously from speed, transparency and comprehensive information with cross-border payment processing. The obvious advantages will make for an immediate success story.”

The BELLIN SWIFT Service enables BELLIN clients to receive their own BIC and to gain access to the SWIFT Network as a member of the Standard Corporate Environment (SCORE). BELLIN takes care of the BIC application, connects the company to the SWIFT Network and guides the client through onboarding and configuration. The BELLIN SWIFT Service has been part of BELLIN’s portfolio since 2013, making BELLIN the very first treasury management system provider with a service of this kind. Today, over 160 customers use the BELLIN SWIFT Service.

Interview with Karsten Kiefer on the SWIFT g4C integration in BELLIN’s treasury management system and the benefits for corporates

About BELLIN

BELLIN is the global leader in technology for corporate banking and treasury. We provide solutions for the financial sector, catering to a range of clients from large multinationals to SMEs and banks. Founded by a treasurer, BELLIN has been championing innovation and out-of-the-box thinking since 1998. With the treasury software tm5 as the centerpiece, BELLIN makes a fundamental difference by offering solutions that zero in on the relationship between corporates and banks and cover everything from payments to FX, cash and risk management. BELLIN is an international company with offices on four continents, powered by a trailblazing fintech spirit and yet firmly rooted in the heritage of German craftsmanship and engineering. BELLIN delights 500 clients and over 80,000 users around the globe.

How to Solve the 4 Main Payments Challenges

| 18-07-2019 | BELLIN |

Sascha Kopp has been a Consulting Director with BELLIN for over 10 years. He has successfully accompanied and implemented well over 100 payments projects in international groups. In this interview, based on our on-demand webinar, he outlines the 4 main payments challenges for corporates and how to best tackle them.

#1 payments challenge: a complex set-up

What is the biggest challenge for international businesses in handling their payments?

When it comes to payments, the biggest challenge for companies is usually their existing set-up. Very often we witness the following: You have banks on one side, ERP systems on the other side, and the individual entities in the middle. They all exchange payment data, generated by various technologies and in different formats, communicated by several channels. Companies find it difficult to manage this complexity.

How can companies make sense of this complex set-up of several e-banking systems, payment platforms and communication channels?

A payments solution, such as BELLIN’s integrated payments platform in the tm5 treasury management system, allows corporates to leave complex set-ups behind: instead, they experience simplicity with one platform that is accessible to all group companies and connected to all ERP systems and banks. tm5 can be used with any payment format.

You can access it on a desktop computer, mobile phone or tablet. All you need is Internet access. One of the many benefits of this solution is that it is scalable and can be adapted to changing company requirements – and we all know companies change all the time.  Every time a new entity is added, no matter where in the world, this company and its banks can easily be connected to the payment platform. There is no need for an additional solution. The tm5 platform handles it all and is easy to use, transparent and secure when communicating data.

#2 payments challenge: fraud and cyber crime

How important is payment fraud?

Fraud, cyber crime and internal manipulation have been increasing dramatically for years. In 2016, the Leoni Group lost 40 million euros to payment fraud. In 2017, ABB reported a fraud case amounting to 100 million dollars. Companies lose more and more money and the number of attacks has been growing. This was confirmed by the AFP Payments Fraud & Control Survey published in April 2019: 82% of companies report having fallen victim to payment fraud.

How can companies best protect themselves against payment fraud?

Organizations currently invest a lot of time and money in fraud prevention. The best way of achieving payment security is to eliminate vulnerabilities, i.e. by using a multi-bank payments platform with integrated user permissions management such as BELLIN’s tm5. Thanks to a single point of entry and an additional security measure by way of 2-factor authentication in the BELLIN Connect app, tm5 protects companies from external threats. The integrated permissions functionality enables companies to define and manage user rights and implement dual approval for payment processing, thus ensuring compliance.

#3 payments challenge: cost

How can companies save money in their payment process?

In addition to bank fees, payments processing eats up resources. For most companies a centralized set-up is the most efficient – as well as the most secure – option to manage group-wide payments with only one team. As a web-based system, tm5 also enables decentralized cooperation using a central platform. We refer to this approach as Load-balanced Treasury.

What is the most affordable payments set-up for companies?

The most cost-efficient combination of formats and connectivity always depends on the countries in which payments are processed as well as on the volume of payments. tm5 offers all types of connectivity, be it local standards such as EBICS, host-to-host connections to main banks or a global solution such as SWIFT. BELLIN consultants offer advice on how to find the most affordable solution.

#4 payments challenge: new banking partners

What is the impact of changes to the banking landscape on corporate payments?

Companies are hit hard by changes to the banking landscape. In recent years, some banks have discontinued their services in some countries over night. But even when the selection of a new banking partner is driven by strategic and cost reasons, this change usually goes hand in hand with a new, additional e-banking system.

But it could be so much simpler: Companies who process their payments on the integrated payments platform in the tm5 treasury management system always work with the same user interface. This user interface is independent of the banks, channels and payment formats a company uses.

All in all:

Make the move to a central, multi-bank payments platform and benefit from:

  • compliance
  • security
  • reduced cost and effort
  • 100% visibility and transparency
  • 100% cash flow visibility
  • 100% independence thanks to self-administration

Sascha Kopp author picture

Sascha Kopp
Consulting Director at BELLIN

 

Treasury Management & Corporate Finance

| 28-2-2019 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam |

The RT program starts 1 september 2019

The post-graduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance programme combines two finance disciplines: Treasury Management and Corporate Finance. These disciplines largely overlap and are inextricably connected.

This post-graduate executive programme has now been running for more than 20 years at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It is a unique programme both in the Netherlands and abroad.
As from September 2018 the programme will be delivered entirely in English to appeal to the increasingly large community of non-Dutch-speaking finance professionals in the Netherlands.

Participants successfully completing this post-graduate executive programme will be awarded with the title of Registered Treasurer. This title is well-known and widely recognized within the treasury professionals’ community.

The curriculum consists of 6 modules, each of which covers a clear sub-discipline in Treasury Management and Corporate Finance. Each module comprises approx 8 lecture days on Thursdays (from 15:30 until 21:00). It is an intensive and efficient 18-month programme.

The post-graduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance programme is a strategic partner of the Dutch Association of Corporate Treasurers (DACT). Partners in the programme are KPMG, Orchard Finance, PwC, and Zanders Treasury & Finance Solutions. Senior affiliates are programme lecturers.

TESTIMONIALS

‘The program offers a lot: interaction with good teachers in a small setting, useful theoretical frameworks and a diverse network of fellow participants and alumni. Highly recommended to everyone working in the Corporate Treasury field, the RT title is a must-have for your professional career.’ (Emile Raymakers – Group Treasurer, Nutreco)

‘I have experienced the RT program as value added and refreshing to my knowledge and experience. Moreover, the program has a broader scope than pure Treasury Management, and offers a good learning experience in the areas of Corporate Finance and Financial Risk Management as well. The fairly small group allows a personal approach, permitting input from own experiences. This connects theory and practice. To summarize: a good investment for me and my employer!’ (Michel van Baardewijk – Treasurer, Vestia)

‘A fine academic program for corporate and public treasurers, their bankers and their consultants.’
(Ed de Bruin – Equity Sales Specialist, ABN AMRO Bank)

‘The ideal basis for the treasurer of the future.’ (Steven de Klein – Cash & Currency Manager – Royal Boskalis Westminster NV)

CONTACT

If you have any questions about the program, please feel free to contact us or visit our website.

Program secretariat Treasury Management & Corporate Finance 
T    00  31 (0)20 – 598 72 31
E    [email protected]

Visiting address:
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
School of Business and Economics, room 6A-55
De Boelelaan 1105
1081 HV  Amsterdam

Reminder: INFORMATION EVENING TREASURY MANAGEMENT & CORPORATE FINANCE

| 12-11-2018 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam |

On Thursday 15 November 2018 the Information Evening for the Postgraduate programs, including the Treasury Management & Corporate Finance program, will take place at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Anyone interested in this program is welcome to get an impression and to get to know the people involved.

You are welcome as of 18.00 hours. The program for Treasury Management & Corporate Financestarts at 20.30 hours. Afterwards there will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions.

We herewith kindly request you to inform potential candidates in your office and/or your network, about this meeting.

Program Information Evening 15 November 2018:

18.00 hrs. Walk in with coffee / tea and sandwiches
18.30 hrs. Investment Management
19.30 hrs. Risk Management for Financial Institutions
20.30 hrs. Treasury Management & Corporate Finance

Location

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam
Room Agora  (main building, 3rd floor)

VU Accessibility

Registration and information

Myrthe Scholze
020-598 2171
[email protected]
https://ee.sbe.vu.nl/nl/over-vu-executive-education/voorlichtingsdagen/index.aspx

Sincerely,

Herbert Rijken and Robert Dekker

INFORMATION EVENING TREASURY MANAGEMENT & CORPORATE FINANCE

| 26-10-2018 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam |

On Thursday 15 November 2018 the Information Evening for the Postgraduate programs, including the Treasury Management & Corporate Finance program, will take place at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Anyone interested in this program is welcome to get an impression and to get to know the people involved.

You are welcome as of 18.00 hours. The program for Treasury Management & Corporate Financestarts at 20.30 hours. Afterwards there will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions.

We herewith kindly request you to inform potential candidates in your office and/or your network, about this meeting.

Program Information Evening 15 November 2018:

18.00 hrs. Walk in with coffee / tea and sandwiches
18.30 hrs. Investment Management
19.30 hrs. Risk Management for Financial Institutions
20.30 hrs. Treasury Management & Corporate Finance

Location

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam
Room Agora  (main building, 3rd floor)

VU Accessibility

Registration and information

Myrthe Scholze
020-598 2171
[email protected]
https://ee.sbe.vu.nl/nl/over-vu-executive-education/voorlichtingsdagen/index.aspx

Sincerely,

Herbert Rijken and Robert Dekker

New style post executive education in Treasury management & Corporate Finance at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

| 06-06-2018 | by Herbert Rijken |

For more than 20 years the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is running a postgraduate executive program in Treasury Management. The educational design of this program is unique in treasury management education. It aims to stimulate development as an academic professional. It mixes useful academic knowledge for practitioners with hands on knowledge useful in daily practice of treasury professionals. To make this happen the program is at an academic master level and much time spent in interactive sessions with various academic and professional experts in the field of treasury management and corporate finance.

 

The curriculum has recently been modified for a better fit with young finance professionals willing to boost their career with high Master level post graduate executive education.

1) The curriculum has been re-organized in 6 clear defined modules which all can be completed in 1.5 years.

2) The scope of the curriculum has been broadened by a more clear focus on Corporate Finance in 2 modules, so the name of the program has become Treasury Management & Corporate Finance.

3)In September 2018 this program will be given entirely in English to connect to the increasingly larger community of non-Dutch speaking finance professionals in The Netherlands. But also, English is becoming more common in the treasury business.

4) The curriculum has been designed in such a way exemptions apply to applicants with Dutch RA and RC qualifications.

After finishing the program you will receive the certificate of a Registered Treasurer which is well recognized in the treasury community. Partners of the program are KPMG, Orchard Finance, PwC and Zanders Treasury & Finance Solutions. Senior affiliates lecture in the program. The program is also strategic partner of the Dutch Association of Corporate Treasurers and TreasuryXL.

For more information see our website:

 

Prof. Dr. Ir. Herbert Rijken – Professor Corporate Finance at VU University Amsterdam

 

 

[button url=”http://www.treasuryxl.com/community/experts/herbert-rijken/” text=”View expert profile” size=”small” type=”primary” icon=”” external=”1″]

 

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This is why corporate treasury is great – The laymen introduction to corporate treasury

| 09-01-2018 | Pieter de Kiewit |

My father was a civil engineer and would have liked one of his kids to follow in his footsteps. Regretfully for him we all went in different directions, me landing an engineering degree of the wrong type. What I did like to learn from my first business management professor was about creating bridges between various functional areas. That is what I have been doing as a recruiter for almost 25 years, the last 8 solely in corporate treasury. Why treasury?

All organisations, even the small ones, can benefit from good treasury. Only the bigger ones hired permanent experts. The main three areas, perhaps oversimplified, they focus on are:

  1. Money logistics: opening and closing bank accounts, doing (bulk) payments, forecast money coming in and going out;
  2. Managing (treasury) risk: understand and manage the implications of interest or currency fluctuations. If your manufacturing costs are in Euro and you sell in Dollars and the price of the Dollar drops, what to do? What to do if you have excess cash on your current account;
  3. Funding: where do you get your money for new or current business? Bank loans, equity, mortgage, leasing?

This does not sound sexy, does it? But do understand that during the crisis treasurers found solutions for companies how to survive. They found funding to pay salaries, helped sales finding creative funding solutions to make complex transactions achievable, helped prevent companies going belly-up due to currency exposures, forced banks to offer better solutions at a more acceptable price.

Treasurers manage huge amounts of money and operate very close to the CFO. They are involved in mergers & acquisitions, reorganisations and international expansion. They act in small numbers but have huge impact if they would stop doing their work. And the job type evolves continuously. Creating new treasury bridges to traditional job types like accounting, tax, sales helps all doing a better job. The academic world is showing increasing interest. In the Netherlands the post graduate education at the Vrije Universiteit is becoming more prominent in the treasury community. Corporate treasury is very dynamic!

What I love doing is helping CFO’s, HR, internal recruitment and senior treasury managers with their staffing questions. What qualifications and personality type matches best with your current and future business situation. If you only hire one treasurer per year, what do you need to know to choose the best candidate? I hope now you can understand my passion for creating bridges in treasury and recruitment.

I look forward to your thoughts to the above and further contact,

Pieter de Kiewit
[email protected] / +31 6 1111 9783

Pieter de Kiewit

 

 

Pieter de Kiewit
Owner Treasurer Search

 

 

The size and shape of your treasury team

| 09-11-2017 | Pieter de Kiewit |

Treasury TeamLast week I received a call from one of my clients. Over the last years, I found several members for their team. Given the transition they are in, they were looking for benchmark information to shape their treasury team and make it future proof. This has kept me thinking and I started gathering information in order to give a proper answer. As to be expected, there is no standard template resulting in an easy answer. Even for more evolved job types like sales or accounting this is a hard question, corporate treasury is too young and small for sound statistics.

To make my analysis workable, I decided to measure the size of the team in a straightforward headcount. When talking about shape, I would like to work with the main functional areas: cash management, risk management, corporate finance and support. Of course this is an oversimplification. I think the following variables are the most relevant.

To start with the obvious: size matters. Size in revenue, number of employees, number of countries active in, number of currencies used, number of payments are all related to size of the treasury team. Not 100%. Senior management requesting detailed and up-to-date information requires a bigger team. We see this especially with organizations in turbulent situations, internally or in dynamic markets. Treasury teams that recently started, do not yet have a focus on efficiency and tend to be bigger. The willingness to invest in modern IT solutions on one hand creates a bigger team: key users and treasury IT managers, on the other hand it replaces staff doing manual work.  Finally improving aspects like segregation of duties and back-up typically create a bigger team.

Moving forward to the shape of the treasury team or perhaps the size of the various functional areas, I observe that the industry and company status have their impact. Typically, companies with a dynamic balance sheet, due to distress or growth (autonomous or take overs) need a bigger corporate finance function. A longer balance sheet in a capital intense industry requires a bigger team. In this area I also see an increase in project and customer finance teams contributing in the structuring of business deals.

Companies with diverse and dynamic payment flows need bigger cash management teams. Especially corporates with an ambition towards strong centralization require extra central staff. They need stronger software support, communicate a lot with subsidiaries and have to understand the business. If achieved, central cash management can be managed by few.

I observe a decrease of number of staff working in FX and interest risk management. Corporates are more risk averse, markets are transparent and ICT enables STP processes. In parallel other types of risk increase the workload: counter party, commodities, insurance, etcetera. Big data and business modeling is having its impact.

This blog does not have the ambition to be comprehensive, the above could be more thorough. Furthermore I could elaborate on aspects like control, IT and especially back office and settlements. Should they even be in your treasury team? I think the topic deserves further attention and could be researched by more than one graduate student.

What are your thoughts? What obvious aspect should be included? I look forward to your reactions,

Pieter de Kiewit

 

Pieter de Kiewit

 

 

Pieter de Kiewit
Owner Treasurer Search