Tag Archive for: treasury

Are you a treasurer? Here are 5 tips for a successful career

| 06-12-2018 | TIStreasuryXL |


Treasurers – the guardians of money – play an important role in all companies. They work to regulate the flow of money by taking a more modern and contemporary approach than ever before. Here we say: Goodbye cash in the closet and hello digital possibilities of the 21st century!

At the same time, however, there is a heavy burden of responsibility on you because if you miscalculate something you will quickly be out of a job and the company will be out of business too. To make sure that doesn’t happen and that your career as a treasurer goes from strength to strength, we have compiled five tips to keep you on the safe side.

1. From controller to treasurer

The switch from money management and the associated creation of a treasury department is becoming increasingly common. In summary, here is a brief overview of what you can do to improve your work as a treasurer:

For example, the choice of bank partners should be carefully considered. By investing time in this, you can save fees later. Likewise, liquidity equalization should be reviewed. Cash pooling makes efficient cash distribution, in Europe or globally as well, easier as central financial management offsets excess liquidity or liquidity shortages. The treasury management system used should also be tailored to the needs of the company and its customers. If these have perhaps changed in recent years, an adaptation could be useful. In general, it is important to be able to ensure transparency for customers and within the company at all times in order to strengthen customer confidence and provide employees with all the information they need.

In the absence of transparency and an unclear view of banking activities, you can use the TIS Bank Account Manager. This is because TIS facilitates reduced bank account management to a single SaaS solution, allowing you to control all account details. For treasurers TIS is therefore worth its weight in gold.

2. From overview to perspective

Having optimized the technical and general structures that help treasurers make their lives easier, it is important to understand the state of the business. A complete overview is therefore priceless! To improve something, you must first know what there is to improve. Which is why a general check of the state of affairs is essential.

Then carry out a financial check: You need to find out about the resources that are available and which could be exhausted in any given case. In addition, you should know about the liquidity of the company – where are there still bottlenecks or where could they develop?

Caution! Because that is quickly neglected: Even within your team, you should know and keep track of the sequence of operating processes. This allows you to quickly identify internal vulnerabilities before you start looking for them externally.

Keep this overview up-to-date and expand it to include news and changes. This allows you to detect possible risks for your company at an early stage and reduce or even prevent negative effects. The overview also helps you to assess the support you need from other departments. They will certainly be happy if they do not have to spontaneously provide first aid for the issue but know in good time to integrate this request into their work. This will help you to ensure timely processing and thus, in the long term, to achieve your own goals.

Recognizing the need for action enables you to respond in good time. If you recognize a chance for long-term improvement, the necessary steps should be implemented soon. However, if the possibility of a short-term improvement is recognized, steps must be taken immediately.

As you can see: This overview helps you to no longer miss any room for improvement.

3. Only optimized reporting is also good reporting

Correct and detailed reporting on all current and future projects can play a major role in the success of the treasury department. It goes without saying that some projects work very well without a meticulous protocol, which also takes up a lot of time. However, at some point you may come across an error that cannot be traced back and could trigger a domino-like chain reaction – or maybe not, you don’t know. But would you not rather invest a little more work to be on the safe side? For this reason, optimize the laborious reporting process and fill it with details, so that if a problem arises later, you can directly identify and fix the source.

4. A planned approach to success

If you have a clear view of the current situation of the company, think about future successes and goals. To do this, you should create an accurate roadmap listing all projects, tasks, customers, etc. After you know what you want to achieve in the future and what your goals are, record them as well. Divide your goals into long-term, medium-term or short-term achievements and prioritize them. Look for a way to reach the goals from the current situation. The previously provided overview will help you immensely in evaluating the implementation options!

If a goal does not seem possible at the moment, shift it to a later date, but do not forget it. However, if you have found a way, get down to planning or directly to implementation.

5. Silence is silver, talking is golden

Even if the opposite opinion prevails in everyday life, as a treasurer you should maintain good communication lines with all stakeholders. Hold regular meetings with your team. This helps you to always keep an eye on the current status of projects. Introduce project completion reports and align your expectations with those of your colleagues. It is important to keep to your timetable and that objectives to be achieved are accessible at all times. You should not only keep your close colleagues updated, but also those stakeholders in other departments. This will allow you to obtain approval for the funds you need in future projects. Good internal communication is therefore important, what’s more, contact with external partners and customers is also crucial for successful cooperation. Here in particular you need to identify and fix problems quickly to prevent things from getting worse.

Unfortunately, as is often the case in life, there is no guide to guaranteed success. However, with these five tips, you are on the right path. It is important that you do not lose sight of your actual tasks during all the coordination work. Create an (imaginary) list of tasks to complete. It should strike a balance between your actual tasks, such as financial planning, hedging financial risks or maintaining contact with banks and capital markets and the coordination you have to provide. Usually one goes with the other, but neither should gain the upper hand alone. Stay focused!

You can read the full article on the website of Treasury Intelligence Solutions GmbH.

 

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Cash flow prognoses zijn van vitaal belang in corporate treasury

| 29-11-2018 | Cashforce | treasuryXL |

De lancering, eerder deze week, van het nieuwe liquiditeitsbeheerportaal van HSBC, moet begin volgend jaar worden gevolgd door een nieuw Cash Flow Forecasting-platform, dat laat zien hoe liquiditeitsbeheer en kasstroomvoorspellingen met elkaar verweven zijn. Er is een groeiend aanbod van leveranciers die zich op dit gebied concentreren, waaronder onze partner Cashforce.

Cashforce maakt verbinding met alle gegevensbronnen die het geld beïnvloeden, om een ​​zeer nauwkeurige cash forecast te bouwen. Slimme algoritmen worden toegepast om nog meer nauwkeurigheid te bieden en zullen
pro-actieve optimalisatie acties tonen. ”

Het belang van kasstroomprognoses neemt steeds verder toe. Bruce Lynn, Managing Partner bij The FECG LLC, is bezig met de laatste fase van zijn onderzoek onder 200 bedrijven wereldwijd en hun gebruik van cash flow forecasting en werkkapitaal management. Hij is van mening dat het belang van cash flow forecasting toeneemt omdat er sinds 10 jaar weer sprake is van een stijgend renteklimaat. Hij vindt dat:

  • De ‘beste’ bedrijven dit belang zullen erkennen en trachten de inherente variaties te verkleinen die zullen optreden omdat de toekomst onzeker is.
  • Ze zullen moeten investeren om “zichtbaarheid” te verkrijgen over hun “stromen” (werk, contanten, boekhouding, informatie). Investeringen zullen niet alleen veranderingen op treasury afdelingen, maar ook operationele afdelingen met zich meebrengen waar de grotere cashflows plaatsvindt.
  • De “slimmere” bedrijven zullen hun personeel naast de bestaande beloningen ook belonen voor het genereren van meer en stabielere kasstromen
  • Probleem (zoals onderzoek lijkt aan te geven): gebrek aan informatie op operationeel niveau; relatieve onbelangrijkheid van kasstromen versus winst. Hoge afhankelijkheid van de technologie van 1980 (dat wil zeggen spreadsheets)
  • De overige bedrijven zullen hun kapitaalkosten zien stijgen naarmate ze overgefinancierd raken of te weinig investeren. Het risico zal vooral hoog zijn voor bedrijven die vreemd vermogen gebruiken om het verwachte rendement van het eigen vermogen te verhogen.

Binnenkort zal er een survey uitgebracht worden waarvan de resultaten hier gedeeld zullen worden.


Cashforce – Cash forecasting & Smart Treasury

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Reminder: Masterclass Cash Management

| 27-11-2018 | treasuryXL

Op 6 december 2018 organiseert Alex van Groningen een masterclass Cash Management. Hoe spoort u verborgen cash op en hoe speelt u het vrij? Richt een effectief cash management systeem in en optimaliseer het bedrijfsresultaat, het werkkapitaal en de liquiditeitspositie.

 

Hoe spoort u verborgen cash op en hoe speelt u het vrij?

Cash management expert Eva Borstlap onthult aan de hand van diverse actuele casussen (o.a. Blokker) maatregelen die met beperkte actie een groot positief effect op zowel de effectiviteit, het rendement als de liquiditeit van de organisatie hebben.

Onderwerpen

  • De essentie van cash management: wat is het wel en wat is het niet
  • De relevantie van een gezonde focus op cash
  • Financiële besturing; samenhang tussen de operationele-, investerings- en financieringsactiviteiten en hoe deze te meten (oa EVA/NPV, futures en SWAPS)
  • De essentie van werkkapitaal en waarom pure sturing op werkkapitaal niet zinvol is
  • Theorie vs praktijk; waarom is de praktijk weerbarstig (Blokker casus)?
  • De directe relatie tussen cash management met de operationele processen en de verborgen cash die in elke organisatie aanwezig is

Voor wie?

Dit programma is specifiek ontwikkeld voor (assistent) financial- en business controllers, financieel managers en andere financiële professionals die nieuwsgierig zijn hoe zij zelf een concrete bijdrage kunnen leveren aan het genereren van extra cash.

Programma

09:30 – 10:00 uur | Introductie

  • Introductie en verwachtingen deelnemers
  • Waarom de focus op cash essentieel is
  • Een wandeling door een Jaarrekening; relatie tussen resultaat en cash

10:00 – 11:00 uur | De essentie van Treasury

  • Groepsopdracht rondom het thema ‘resultaat en cash’
  • Theorie: De essentie van Treasury en de relatie met de operationele de bedrijfsprocessen
  • Welke rol kan/moet een financial hierin spelen?

11:00 – 11:15 uur | Koffie en thee pauze

11:15 – 12:30 uur | Financiële besturing: theorie en praktijk

  • Theorie: wat is de financiële besturing van een organisatie (operationele-, investerings- en financieringsactiviteiten)
  • Welke parameters en risico management zijn relevant (oa de werking van Futures, NPV, EVA, Swaps)
  • Theorie vs praktijk; waarom de theorie niet altijd werkt (case ABNAMRO)

12:30 – 13:00 uur | Lunch

13:00 – 15:00 uur | Verborgen cash in het werkkapitaal

  • De essentie van werkkapitaal; waarom het vooral geen ‘finance feestje’ is
  • Methoden om werkkapitaal eenvoudig en snel te kunnen beoordelen
  • Inzoomen op de verborgen cash in de operationele bedrijfsprocessen
  • Waar zit de cash ‘verstopt’?

15:00 – 15:15 uur | Koffie en thee pauze

15:15 – 16:00 uur | Opsporen van verborgen geld & Blokker

  • “Het opsporen en vrijspelen van verborgen cash” in de eigen praktijk
  • Introductie Blokker; Wat is er aan de hand; een wandeling door het Jaarverslag

16:00 – 16:45 uur | ’Hunt for cash programma’ Blokker (Case)

  • Interactief spel om te ervaren voor welke dillema’s een bedrijf als Blokker staat en waarbij de theorie en alle genoemde ervaringen in de praktijk worden gebracht

16:45 – 17:00 uur | Samenvatting, evaluatie en afsluiting

Bel voor meer informatie of een offerte met Ivo ten Hoorn op 020 639 0008.

Corporate Trade Finance Products: What is Factoring and Forfaiting

| 26 -11-2018 | by Nijay Gupta | treasuryXL |


In view of Credit & Geo-political Risk worldwide, the Corporates & Financers (mainly Bankers & Financial Institutions) are offering plenty of products to Sellers & buyers to enable them to do Trade.  The most sought after product  now a days is Factoring & Forfaiting for Domestic & International Trade.

What is Factoring & Forfaiting (Post shipment Finance)

Factoring: A sort of Financial arrangement between the Seller & Intermediary Bank, to sell its Accounts Recievable rights in favour of the Factor (intermediary bank) to collect/discount the proceeds of the bills/Invoices. A business will sometimes factor its receivable assets to meet its present and immediate  cash needs.

This may involve discounting of bill by the Factor Intermediary . Generally the discounting is done upto between 80 to 90% of the invoice value on Recourse basis. The factor charges, Collection, Administration, Management , Credit Protection & Financing (if done) cost to the Seller/exporter.  Generally, the Factor insist for Seller to have this arrangement for all their sales, which is generally not liked by the sellers/exporters, those are keen to give business only for the troubled countries/buyers with Geo-political & other problems. The Factor helps seller collection of Invoice proceeds thru all legal means through their world-wide branches/subsidiaries or correspondent banks network.

Forfaiting:  Forfaiting is a factoring/discounting arrangement used in Domestic/International Trade Finance by Sellers/Exporters who wish to sell their receivables  to a forfaiter (intermediary Bank, Financial Institution or a Finance Company) on without recourse basis.

This can be for short-term (1 month) to Long-term (10 years) Bills with or without LC on Without Recourse basis.  The Forfaiter collect its discounting fee upfront for the entire period and it is the best arrangement for the exporter and intermediary Forfaiter.  Its win-win for both, as exporters get the bill proceeds upfront (as all risks are passed on to the Forfaiter) on without recourse basis and gives good income upfront to the Forafaiter. Paying upfront interest to the Forfaiter is permissible  by RBI under FEMA 1999.

Many Foreign Banks in India are offering these products on aggressive basis, even to the exporters does not have account relationship with them, in order to earn comission, fee & Interest on Factoring & Forfaiting business for their buyer customers LC or without LC, in other countries. Interest Rates are at MCLR or Libor relates rates of interest with lower mark-up.  Infact, sometimes, its cheaper for the exporter to get Finance under these schemes cheaper than normal Interest rate charged by Banks to exporters under Pre-shipment or Post-shipment Finance schemes.

 

Nijay Gupta

Founder & CEO NK GUPTA Consulting

 

 

Why education is (not) a great investment in your Treasury Career

| 20-11-2018 | by  Kim Vercoulen |

 

Postgraduate education is a topic that returns in many of our conversations with candidates. They wonder if it would be beneficial for them to invest in postgraduate education and if so, which ones are most likely to help them further in their career. In our perception the Register Treasurer program (in The Netherlands), the ACT courses (in Europe) and CTP (in the US) programs are the most prominent postgraduate degrees in corporate treasury. 

 

Before deciding on following a postgraduate education program, I think it’s important to think about your career motivation. Based upon this you can strategize about education needed to get where you want to go. One important thing we see, is that candidates with a high intrinsic motivation and eagerness for knowledge are more likely to complete their education than the ones without. Furthermore, we also notice in our assignments that lack of postgraduate treasury education is hardly ever a deal breaker. So following a postgraduate education with the sole purpose of CV enrichment is not too smart. It does however show your interest in the field and it shows you’re motivated to expand your knowledge: it is a plus, not a must.

For some qualifications career maintenance is mandatory. For example, people with RC, RA or AA qualifications need to earn a certain amount of PE (Permanent Education) hours to maintain their basic knowledge in their field of expertise and keep up with developments in this field. And of course to keep the right to keep these letters behind their name. In treasury education, such a system does not (yet) exist. This means that keeping your treasury knowledge up to date is your own responsibility. You can do this maintenance by attending courses, visit events and invest in publishing about the field in treasury publications.

If you would like to brainstorm upon the above, please contact us and let us know what your thoughts are.

 

 

 

Kim Vercoulen

Recruitment Consultant at Treasurer Search

 

 

SANCTIONS IN LOAN AGREEMENTS; A BORROWER’S PERSPECTIVE

| 8-11-2018 | Solusius Treasury Lawyers | treasuryXL |

Introduction

Compliance with sanction laws is an important topic in loan documentation. In view of increased sanction legislation, intensified enforcement and huge potential fines, lenders insist more and more on stringent clauses to ensure compliance with sanction laws by borrowers. While some years ago sanctions were no topic at all, lenders currently include sanction related representations, general covenants and information covenants in loan agreements. Many lenders fear reputational risk if a client violates sanctions and lenders tend to draft sanctions clauses that are more restrictive and broader than the sanction laws applicable to the borrower or even to the lender itself. Such broad sanction clauses may hamper the borrower in its ordinary course of business and increase the risk of an event of default under the loan agreement considerably. A description of sanction laws and the specific impact thereof for corporates are outside the scope of this article; here only sanction wording in loan agreements will be addressed a borrower may be confronted with.

Negotiating sanction clauses

Unfortunately, negotiating sanction wording tends to be difficult. Lenders often argue that the proposed wording is standard wording for the bank(s) and that deviations cannot be made. Although this argument is used, negotiation is always possible. It is important to bear in mind that there is no market consensus about sanction requirements; each bank has its own sanction policy and its own preferred wording in loan agreements. The standard sanction wording of the bank acting as documentation agent is often used as a starting point when drafting sanction wording. Other lenders in the syndicated or clubbed transaction may subsequently add additional requirements to comply with their internal procedures. Sanction clauses therefore may include duplicate requirements and could be rather restrictive for the borrower. However, if the suggested wording is jeopardising business opportunities or is too burdensome for the borrower, even companies with limited negotiating power can negotiate the sanction clauses to become more workable.

Sanction clauses and LMA

The Loan Market Organisation (‘LMA’) has not published recommended sanction provisions in any of its forms of facility agreement. In 2014 the LMA recommended in its Guidance Note to consider to include a representation that the borrower is not a target of sanctions and an undertaking to provide lenders with comfort that the proceeds of the loan will not be used in any way which would violate any applicable sanctions regime. The LMA states that the precise wording of any such representation and undertaking will depend on the transaction, the parties involved and the sanctions regime(s) that the parties wish to address. Unfortunately, these days many lenders incorporate much broader sanction related clauses in all loan agreements, independent of the situation of the borrower.

Although there is no market consensus about sanction wording in loan agreements, there are many similarities between the sanction wording required by lenders. Sanction wording is generally included in the following (LMA) sections of the loan agreement: definitions, representations, general covenants, information covenants and event of default. When negotiating sanction wording the following elements may need to be negotiated: applicable sanctions, scope of compliance, sanctioned person, sanction investigation, use of loans, use of bank accounts, compliance procedures, materiality and consequence of breach of sanction obligations. In the paragraphs below each of these topics will be addressed.

The full article can be read on the website of Solusius Treasury Lawyers.

Maarten Steyerberg – Founder and Senior Legal Counsel Solusius

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Instimatch Global digitaliseert geldmarkt met online network

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

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

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

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

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

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

Voor meer informatie kunt u contact opnemen met Instimatch Global.

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

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


Roel Schuring – Head of Sales Benelux at Instimatch Global

 

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

| 22-10-2018 |  TIPCO 

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

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

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

The objective: Less paper, more speed

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

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

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

 

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Corporate Trade Finance Products : Letter of Credit

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Negotiating Bank (Generally Sellers Bank),

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

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

What are the various Types of Documentary Credit:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What Importer (Applicant) should do before opening LC:

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

Nijay Gupta

Founder & CEO NK GUPTA Consulting

 

 

Masterclass Blockchain

| 01-10-2018 | treasuryXL |

Samen met IJsselvliet Strategie & Realisatie organiseert The Perfect Fit op donderdag 11 oktober 2018 een Masterclass over het thema blockchain.

Blockchain wordt gezien als de grootste IT-revolutie sinds de opkomst van het internet. Traditionele transacties worden door deze technologische ontwikkeling sneller, veiliger en transparanter: blockchain kan voor de revolutie in de 21e eeuw gaan zorgen!

De blockchain is de onderliggende technologie van de cryptovaluta bitcoin. Maar er zijn veel meer toepassingen dan cryptovaluta. De disruptieve kracht van de blockchain-technologie blijft niet beperkt tot de financiële wereld. Zo kunnen bijvoorbeeld eigendomsregistraties in de toekomst via blockchain worden beheerd. Dergelijke toepassingen zullen aanzienlijke gevolgen hebben voor de positie van makelaars, overheden, onderwijsinstellingen, controllers, toezichthouders, juristen, notarissen en accountants. Dat blockchain voor grote veranderingen gaat zorgen en aanzienlijke gevolgen zal hebben, is een feit.

Tijdens deze middag gaan we met elkaar op verkenning over de (on)mogelijkheden van de blockchain en de consequenties met toepassing op organisaties. Na een eenvoudige uitleg wat het is en waarom het mogelijk disruptief kan zijn, komen de volgende vragen aan de orde:

  • Wat kunnen de gevolgen van de blockchain-technologie zijn voor samenleving en organisaties?
  • Wat zijn nu al toepassingen van de blockchain-technologie voor bedrijfsvoering en verdienmodellen van bestaande en nieuwe producten en diensten?
  • Wat betekent dit voor uw organisatie en uw klanten? Waar zitten kansen en bedreigingen?

Praktische zaken

De masterclass wordt van 13.00 uur tot 18.00 uur georganiseerd bij Landgoed de Salentein te Nijkerk. Aansluitend dineren wij met elkaar waarbij uiteraard ook gelegenheid is bij te praten. De kosten van de masterclass bedragen € 295 excl. BTW.
Inleiders zijn de heren Erwin en Thijs Giesbers, beiden al vanaf het begin actief met de blockchain. Zij kunnen er boeiend over vertellen en doen dit uit eigen ervaring, concreet en vooral praktisch. Van harte aanbevolen!

Aan deze masterclass worden 4 gecertificeerde PE punten toegekend. Inschrijven kan via de website van The Perfect Fit of door een e-mail te sturen aan Charlotte van Weerd: [email protected] . Wilt u – wanneer u interesse hebt in de PE-punten – dit aangeven bij uw inschrijving? Graag ontvangen we dan tevens uw voorletter(s) en eventuele titel(s).