Tag Archive for: treasury

From Fintech to Regtech… from potentially disruptive to leaner compliance opportunities

| 31-5-2017 | François de Witte |

On 18/5/2017, I attended a seminar covering the topic “From Fintech to Regtech… from potentially disruptive to leaner compliance opportunities” organized by The Finance Club of Brussels, the Free University of Brussels (ULB), the Solvay Finance Society and Thomson Reuters.

Introduction

Fintech describes a wide range of innovation in financial technology, going from payment systems to lending and trading platforms.
Fintechs are seen in many cases as potential disruptors of the traditional intermediation of heavily regulated banks and other financial institutions See also my articles on PSD2 further down.
However Fintechs can also be enablers, helping banks and financial institutions to streamline their regulatory reporting and compliance, or help the disruptors in coping more easily with compliance in the future.

Setting the scene

Fintechs are playing an increasing role. The investments in Fintechs exceeded EUR 25 billion in 2016, and they bring a real digital revolution. Fintechs are perceived to foster the Digital Revolution, but equally to increase the digital divide in our society between the skilled and/or wealthy and those who are not.

Regulatory compliance is time-consuming and expensive for both financial institutions and regulators. The volume of information that parties must monitor and evaluate is enormous. The rules are often complex and difficult to understand and apply. There is a lot of data to be analyzed. Much of the process remains highly labor-intensive, or still depends heavily on manual inputs.

The Regtechs can be considered as an outgrowth of Fintec. Regtech use digital technologies— including big data analytics, cloud computing, robotics, behavioral analysis, blockchain technology and machine learning to facilitate regulatory compliance. Amongst  other things, Regtech applications automate risk management and compliance processes, enable companies to stay aware of regulatory changes around the world, facilitate regulatory reporting and support strategic planning.

In recent years banks have seen opportunities to ask Fintechs to solve their large regulation and compliance issues. They can change the paradigm of banks from heavy IT releases to agile sprints, from integration to standardizing protocols, from static functions to workflows.

Hence financial institutions are more willing to consider using Fintechs for getting more efficiency. During the seminar, somebody of the panel mentioned: “Collaboration is the best innovation”. Banks can also help Fintechs thanks to their experience in managing large databases, managing risks and providing the required critical mass.

We have seen some applications recently in areas such as the KYC (Know Your Customer) domain.

Regtech – some other considerations

However, as mentioned during the seminar by Antonio Garcia Del Riego, Head of EU Corporate Affairs at Banco Santander, in Europe there remain obstacles in using Fintechs. The Bank Regulators in Europe expect the banks to deduct the goodwill from the core capital of the banks. This implies that software investments cannot be capitalized and need to be written off immediately in the P&L. A second challenge is the ability to attract digital talent, given the fact that the regulators limit the way in which the remuneration can be paid, whilst startups can be very creative here.
For the regulators, there also remain challenges. Once banks will have automated their reporting, the regulators will have to follow. They also will have to attract digital talent, to treat all these data in an automated way. If they do not succeed in this, they might challenge the use of Regtechs, and this is not what we want.

Regtechs can potentially offer similar benefits to regulators as they do to financial institutions. We recently observed that some (quite few) Regtech providers have emerged to serve the significant needs of regulators. There have seen recently some examples in Fintechs bringing behavioral models to the regulators, or new cognitive technology or the use of Blockchain technology (smart contracts), to trigger automatic alerts for the regulators when the banks exceed some thresholds.

Some regulators are taking initiatives to foster innovation. In 2016, the FCA (US) created its “regulatory sandbox,” a space where financial services companies are encouraged to test new products without regulatory consequences. Recently the Australian Securities and Investment Commission also created its regulatory sandbox, suggested to establish a new regtech liaison group, comprising industry, technology firms, academics, consultancies, regulators and consumer bodies, and announced that it would host a Regtech hackathon later in 2017.

Other countries have also taken steps to support Fintech and Regtech innovation. The Monetary Authority of Singapore is in the process of developing a regulatory sandbox. We might expect other regulators to also take similar initiatives.

Conclusion

Thanks to their digital technology, Regtechs enable banks and other financial institutions to reduce the burden of compliance. However some steps need to be taken to create a level playing field and some topics will have to be clarified.
One can ask oneself the question how far these innovations can become game changers, awakenings for the banks, or even force them to more transparency and predictability towards regulators.

 

François de Witte – Founder & Senior Consultant at FDW Consult

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More articles on this subject:

PSD 2: A lot of opportunities but also big challenges (Part I)

PSD 2 : The implementation of PSD 2: A lot of opportunities but also big challenges (Part II)

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Mergers & Acquisitions: The 26 process steps for a corporate treasurer

| 29-5-2017 | Theo Paardekooper |

The main task of a treasurer is linked to cash management and short term funding and investments. This is the common practice in the Dutch corporate market, but this is by far not the right view on treasurer’s tasks and responsibilities. In the UK and USA the treasury function is more based on a position close to the CFO, being responsible for the corporate financial strategy and being an advisor for the financial framework of a company. A treasurer is more than a operational position in the company.
One of the topics on the agenda of the treasurer is the merger and or acquisition strategy of the company. This blog gives you a short guidance in the 26 steps in selling (or buying) a company.

26 process steps

The treasurer will join a team of experts to execute this process.

Step 1. Market research. This research will give a clear view on the market to collect sufficient information for the management to make decisions during this process. Mostly a request for information is launched to candidate advisors that will be used in this sales process. These advisors will give a snap shot on the transactions containing information that is used in the Steps 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Step 2. Track record. Investigate the track record of the advisors involved in this process.

Step 3. Valuation of the company compared to its peers. Valuation can be based on Discounted Cash flow, EBITDA-multiples or Net asset Value.

Step 4. Prepare a Long List of possible buyers (or targets). This list can contain strategic buyers (competitors or companies in the same value chain) and financial buyers (private equity and hedge funds).

Step 5. Negotiate a fee structure for the mandate holders of the transaction, the investment banker, legal and tax advisor.

Step 6. Contact program prepared for the parties on the Long List on an anonymized basis. The name of the selling company is not (yet) mentioned in any contact with parties on the Long List.

Step 7. After establishing the first contacts in the markets a Short List will be prepared containing up to 15 possible candidates

Step 8. Preparing a teaser and a non-disclosure agreement. (NDA)

Step 9. An investment memorandum will be submitted to potential buyers after accepting an NDA.

Step 10. A process letter will be distributed containing the time frame and schedule for the next steps in the buying (or sales) process.

Step 11. Non-binding offer launched by the buyer including a data room request. This non binding offer contains at least: – a price and/or pricing mechanism, – information about the buyer and its representatives, – specification of the deal (buying in cash, shares, earn-out, vendor loan etc.)  and other requests for information that are required to launch a binding offer

Step 12. The bidder will arrange a bank financing agreement or term sheet.

Step 13. Assessment of the bids by the seller. To a maximum of 5 possible candidates will be assessed.

Step 14. Send an invitation to organize a due diligence. This due diligence will be related to the domains of legal, fiscal, financial, Human Resources, intellectual property, environmental and commercial items. A data room will be available for the potential buyers. Management of the selling company and management of the buying company will give management presentations. Also site visits can be part of this process. The due diligence reports will show the risk, the impact of these risks and the possible actions to mitigate this type of risk.

Step 15. Golden parachutes. Offer to key managers in the target company who probably will not “survive” after the transaction but who will be important in de selection process.

Step 16a. Launch of a binding offer including reservation to final approval by the banks and  shareholders of the buyer.

Step 16 b. Presenting term sheet of banks showing the financing capabilities of the buyer to close the deal.

Step 17. Start the approval/advise process to inform formal regulators and the employee’s council of buyer and seller.

Step 18. The seller will send a term sheet/heads of terms to the final preferred bidder (or 2 bidders)

Step 19. The seller gives exclusivity rights to one or two preferred bidders for a period of 3-4 weeks to negotiate a Sale Purchase Agreement (SPA) or an Asset Purchase Agreement (APA).

Step 20. Negotiation of SPA or APA containing:
Price and pricing mechanism about corrections on working capital, debt and cash position and conditions precedent.
Representations (Reps). A declaration of the seller about all the information submitted to the buyer. This information can’t give any reason for discussion or claim after closing.
Warranties, valid for a defined period containing a defined amount to cover certain risks

Step 21. Signing

Step 22. Closing. Transfer of shares from seller to buyer

Step 23. Settlement of share price payment after pre defined calculation of the price as defined in the pricing mechanism.

Step 24. Placing of funds on an escrow account, established to cover the warranties given buy the seller.

Step 25. Closing of accounts that were used for settlement. In the Netherlands a notary public is used in the settlement procedure, but this is not the process in other countries.

Step 26. 18 months after closing. Release of the escrow funds to the seller.

These 26 steps are a framework, but some steps can be merged in one process step. The position of the treasurer in this process is linked to his experience and his position in the management of the company.

 

Theo Paardekoper 

Independent treasury specialist

 

The changing training requirements of banks

| 26-5-2017 | Michiel van den Broek | treasuryXL |

 

Some time ago Treasurer Search published an article of our expert Michiel van den Broek. We believe that the topic of changing training requirements is still relevant – for banks and maybe even in a broader context.
Michiel van den Broek writes: Needless to say that the changing processes and services at banks are driven by the rapid information technology developments. This shift also impacted number and composition of bank staff.

Training

During years of training bank staff, I experience a growing demand for financial basic knowledge, for example:

  • What are core activities of banks and how do these generate different types of income.
  • What are the characteristics of various financial products such as equities, forwards and interest rate swaps.
  • How do I calculate the settlement amount of a financial transaction.
  • What determines the value of a bond.
  • What risks do banks run and how to manage risk.
  • How is the processing of financial transactions structured.

Sufficient financial basic knowledge contributes to better communication and understanding that enhances development & implementation of IT projects. Another important advantage is the lower operational risk: fewer errors, faster identification and problem solving due to better awareness and understanding.

Training online

At the same time I experience lower popularity of traditional training, such as self-study or classroom programs. There is more demand for interactive and easily accessible training via live online classrooms that that can offer next possible advantages:

  • More flexible scheduling.
  • Missed lessons can be viewed (all classes are recorded).
  • Easy access: no need for a training location.
  • Highly interactive.
  • Lower costs.
  • Higher frequency, more participants.

The improved software and increased internet speed reinforce the trend towards live online classrooms.

The changing training requirements at banks is therefore both content and form. There is more demand for financial basic knowledge through online facilities.

 

 

Michiel van den Broek

Owner of Hecht Consult

“Systems om je bank buitenspel te zetten” – Verslag van mijn Financial Systems presentatie

| 23-5-2017 | Pieter de Kiewit |

Dit is een verslag en korte samenvatting van mijn presentatie die ik mocht houden op het Financial Systems evenement. Afgezien van een gênante vertraging door mijn gebrekkige Powerpoint skills was het een prettige sessie afgerond met een pittige discussie tussen experts in de zaal. Eerst een korte samenvatting:

Als Feyenoord fan ben ik dit jaar gelukkig en weet veel van voetbal, ook al speel ik het niet. Daarin ligt een parallel in mijn werk als treasury recruiter. Maandelijks krijg ik van circa 100 experts persoonlijk college en zie een veelvoud aan cv’s. Ik denk dat ik hierdoor inzicht heb in systemen die worden gebruikt om treasury processen te managen en ik zie de afgelopen decennia interessante ontwikkelingen die de laatste jaren in een versnelling zijn geraakt.

Zonder namen te noemen van leveranciers, ik doe geen software sales, heb ik een lijst gemaakt van diensten en producten die de gereedschapskist van de treasurer kunnen vergroten en afhankelijkheid van zijn bank verkleinen. Toen ik deze lijst opstelde, viel me op dat er tussen de vakgebieden cash & werkkapitaal management enerzijds en funding anderzijds interessante ontwikkelingen zijn zoals bankonafhankelijke betaalplatforms, crowdfunding en het bankkosten inzichtelijk maken. In het managen van risk zie je bijvoorbeeld trade finance in blockchain en partijen die FX transacties tegen ongebruikelijk lage marges bieden.

Banken daadwerkelijk buitenspel wordt lastig en is volgens mij ook niet het streven. Banken bashen vind ik een zeer onsympathieke hobby. Daarbij is de Fintech wereld ook nog niet volwassen met alle bijbehorende consequenties. Voor de drukbezette treasurer, voor de DGA en CFO die maar incidenteel te maken hebben met het vakgebied kunnen deze ontwikkelingen nogal onoverzichtelijk zijn. Helaas is er geen oplossing die snel inzicht verschaft. Wel denk ik dat er mooie kansen liggen voor degene die vooraan wil meelopen in ontwikkelingen.

De discussie die zich ontspon tussen financiële lijnmanagers en treasury experts ging, onder andere, over de vraag of bankkosten daadwerkelijk inzichtelijk zijn en wat de toekomstige rol van de banken zal zijn. De Powerpoint presentatie is onder dit artikel opgenomen. Ik verheug me op verdere events waar discussie rond dit thema kan worden verder gevoerd.

Pieter de Kiewit

 

 

Pieter de Kiewit
Owner Treasurer Search

 

 

Klik hier als je de presentatie van de sessie wilt bekijken.

 

 

 

 

The IT Savvy Treasurer

| 9-5-2017 | Patrick Kunz |

 

We cannot switch on the news without hearing about technological advancements which, supposedly, make our lives easier, better or smarter. We all embrace these, get used to them and cannot do without them anymore. Sometimes we think back to the time before these advancements and cannot image how we lived without them. The same applies to treasury.

 

 

I am 35 years old; my experience in treasury was always linked to IT. I sometimes hear stories from older treasurer who worked without computers, later tabulating/punch cards and still managed to do a good job in their field. Of course times have changed; information is faster than in these days and also the need to process it. We all had to embrace the new technology. In this blog I will try to analyse the link between IT and treasury and try to make predictions about the future or at least where I wish the future would go (in treasury terms).

Payments

In the old days payments were a manual process with people entering them in the banking system or sending them to the bank via fax. Nowadays, we link our ERP system with the banking system and have a batch file automatically added to the bank. With bulk payments a payment hub can be used which will make the whole process bank independent, fast and cheap. If wanted and needed the whole process can be made straight-through by automating it from creating a payment to approving it.

The future will make payments even faster (instant payments should be possible in the sepa region from November onwards), cheaper and more bank independent (PSD2 regulation allows non banks to link with your bank and provide (payment) services). Maybe we will be using our facebook account for payments sooner or later. Bitcoin could be an alternative payment currency and/or be used to hedge non deliverable currencies (to achieve this the volumes need to increase significantly).

Risk management

An important part of the treasurers work is risk management. Hedging FX, interest rate, commodity prices are daily business for a treasurer. Doing the deal is easy, doing the right deal is more difficult. A treasurer can only hedge correctly if he knows what he is hedging: the exposure. To know the exposure information of the business is key. The reason for the exposure originates in sales (FX) or procurement (FX and Commodity). These departments need to be aware that the actions they take might have consequences for the treasurer and therefore the treasurer needs to have some information. I have been at companies where sales was daily generating a lot of USD exposure at a EUR company. They were supposed to let finance know about positions. Often this was done at day’s end or forgotten and done a day later. Result: an exposure on USD without the treasurer knowing it; a risky position. IT helped to fix this. Sales entered a deal in a program and the relevant FX exposure was automatically shared with the treasurer via an API to the Treasury Management System. The treasurer could  decide directly whether he needed to hedge or not and even aggregated deals to get better rates at the bank. For small deals a link was set up with a FX trading platform to STP them at the best rate.

The future in risk management will be even more automation within the company (internal) but also with connections to banks and risk solution providers. Prices are becoming more transparent due to the fact that bank independent solutions are available which compare prices, in real time. Risk management sales is becoming less a bank business. Brokers are having less hurdles to enter the market, due to IT platforms in the cloud.  Why pick up the phone and call your bank for a EUR/USD quote when you can compare prices via an online platform and directly trade it? Often you don’t even have to settle via your own bank accounts but you can have it directly sent to your customer or supplier.

For Trade Finance blockchain will become the new standard. The financing and shipping of commodities is a rather paper based process which is inefficient and slow. Blockchain could automate and improve the speed massively. The challenge to achieve this is big as there are many parties involved,  but initiatives have started so the future is beginning now.

Information

As above examples show information is key to a treasurer. Even more so, as treasury is often a small team and most of the information comes from other departments. To get this information the treasurer can use several nice IT solutions. The ERP systems helps, but the treasury needs to know where to find the information. A treasury management system is often used to sort all treasury related information. TMS can link with ERP systems or other systems to gather information. The TMS will sort this information so that the treasurer is well informed and can make decisions.  When I started in treasury 10 years ago the market for TMS was small; systems were expensive and limited in use (payments only, fx only etc). Nowadays a TMS does not have to be expensive anymore. A SME (Small medium enterprise) could use it to upgrade their treasury information. Most TMS can be used for all aspects of treasury (cash Management, risk management, corporate finance, guarantees etc). This will give the tech savvy treasurer an edge. The treasurer with most information can make the best decision. In treasury taking decisions while being well-informed often means either costs saving (e.g. better cash position, lower working capital) or lower risk. The IT savvy treasurer contributes to an optimally functioning company; he/she should be considered a business partner; he knows your cash position, your risk position and your balance sheet, hopefully in real time at all times.

 

Patrick Kunz

Treasury, Finance & Risk Consultant/ Owner Pecunia Treasury & Finance BV

 

 

 

Other articles of this author:

Flex Treasurer: The life of an interim treasurer

How much are you paying your bank?

 

Guide to Treasury Technlogy by ACT & AFP

| 1-5-2017| treasuryXL | ACT | AFP |

ACT and AFP have published a Guide to Treasury Technology sponsored by Bloomberg, which might be interesting for you.
Managing treasury tasks has become more complex due to globalization of markets and increasing uncertainty in business since the first AFP edition appeared in 2011. Since then treasurers faced multiple challenges to exercise control of treasury activities, especially group activities.

Managing treasury has become more complex during the years in the face of global change and increasingly uncertain markets. Treasury practitioners face magnified challenges, as they try to gain more visibility and exercise more control over group activities. Treasury technology developed quickly to help them to operate more efficiently and answer compliance requests with ever more stringent regulation. Automate processes was one of the biggest challenges. Technology can help treasury play a more strategic role, automate routines and be compliant with regulatory environment.

Joint AFP/ACT publication, sponsored by Bloomberg

This guide is the first joint AFP/ACT publication and aims to help practitioners to identify a cost-efficient solution.

The first chapter starts with a detailed introduction of the development of treasury technology, expectations towards this technology and how the evolution of the Corporate Treasurer took place. This chapter illustrates how the technology available to treasurers has developed over the last 15 years. A brief explanation of how dedicated treasury technology was first developed is followed by details of how a series of factors have moulded the treasury technology market into the one we see today. Three points are highlighted: that the treasury technology market has matured, tremendous improvements in the quality of connectivity and what the changes brought with them for Corporate Treasurers.

Why review technology?

In Chapter 2 the drivers for reviewing the technology and a case study are presented.
With the rapid changes in available technology, the increased opportunity for treasury centralization and the need for treasurers to be able to demonstrate control over activities, treasurers were reviewing how best to deploy technology in order to help them perform their various roles effectively. Given the different environments in which companies operate, the potential benefits from the deployment of a new technology solution can vary significantly. This chapter outlines some of the key drivers that are encouraging treasury practitioners to review their use of technology.

Purpose of technology

Chapter 3 deals with the purpose of technology and identifies the core roles of the treasury department. Also how treasury structure can affect the use of technology. When assessing a deployment of technology, treasurers need to determine their requirements of the technology. This chapter includes a series of questions to help treasurers clarify their existing operations and also identify how structures and processes might change with the adoption of new technology. A case study shows how a company uses a certain technology to improve process quality.

Technology solutions

Chapter 4 presents treasury technology solutions.
A wide range of technology solutions is available to support treasurers. Treasury management systems are able to support the majority of the work of most treasury departments. However, it is also possible to develop a technology solution that supports treasury departments, including those with complex operations, without adopting a treasury management system. This can be achieved by developing in-house solutions or by using tools offered by banks and other vendors. A range of potential solutions available to support treasurers is presented in this chapter.

Evaluation and building a business case

Chapter 5 is about the evaluation process and how building a business case can help to evaluate which technology fits best. How to build a business case and then how to develop a requirements definition is explained in detail. The requirements definition is a critical part of the process: it helps to set the scope for the project and is the core document in the selection process. The process of developing the requirements definition also helps to build support for, and awareness of, the project throughout the rest of the organization.

Selection, implementation and maintaining the solution

Chapter 6, 7 deal with the selection and implementation process, while chapter 9 tells you more about maintaining the solution over time.

Trends

Chapter 10, the final chapter describes some of the current trends in treasury technology and lines out how they might impact treasurers over the coming years. Some of the key areas of development in technology and also some of the market changes which might require a technological response are presented.

In the appendix of the guide you will find information on how to develop a request for proposal (RFP) , a checking list for this RFP and a very detailed country reports list.

Source: © Association for Financial Professionals, ACT (Administration) Limited and WWCP Limited (except articles by Bloomberg LP), 2016, ISBN 978 1 899518 47 0 book 978 1 899518 48 7 CD ROM, for the articles  Bloomberg LP, 2016 | TMI

Our conclusion

A very detailed, valuable guide for all who want to learn more about treasury technology, want to find out more on how to select the best technology solution that meets the specific requirements of their company and what to focus on during the purchase and implementation process. You can find the guide on tmi, after registering for free.

 

Singing from the same hymn sheet

| 26-4-2017 | Hubert Rappold | Sponsored content |

Hubert Rappold from TIPCO Treasury & Technology, puts the case for a treasury information platform (TIP), which acts as an information hub for the treasury department and reduces companies’ reliance on “Excel-based monstrosities” that are doomed to fail.

 

A typical treasury department runs a number of systems: a treasury management system for day-to-day operations, a trading platform, a market information system, electronic banking software and so on. So why on earth would you really need a separate treasury information platform (TIP)? After all, the data already exists in a multitude of other systems. Well, that is certainly true but also part of the challenge. If there is no single place where all the data can come together to create your reports at the press of a button, you will most likely be forced into a mediocre data warehouse solution also used by other departments or into a ‘handmade’ spreadsheet-based solution with all its drawbacks.

On top of that, even in an ideal world, when all your data is in a single system, there are circumstances where it is almost certain that you will need to integrate additional data. Just think about acquisitions. lt usually takes years before the systems are harmonised. So what do you do in the meantime?

Requirements of a TIP

A TIP needs to fulfil a range of requirements in order to satisfy the needs of treasury departments.

  • lt needs to be easy to use
  • lt needs to integrate existing data sources
  • lt needs to have a flexible reporting engine
  • lt needs to be easy to maintain
  • lt needs to be extensible

What happens if these requirements are not fulfilled is quite easy to imagine. Your reporting will be cumbersome, error-prone and data quality will be poor. Ultimately, the reporting project will fail and a new generation of interns will develop yet another Excel-based monstrosity doomed to failure.

Let’s look at these requirements in greater detail:

  • If it is not easy to use, it will not be accepted by your users, resulting in poor data quality and frustration. The benchmarks are spreadsheet­based solutions. If the handling is as easy as in these systems, then your users will be happy.
  • If it does not integrate existing data sources, you force users to duplicate entries, resulting in frustration and hence in poor data quality. Of course this is not a one-way street. Think about the FX exposure captured by your subsidiaries as part of the forecasting process and locally contracted FX transactions. Your risk manager will be more than happy to have this information in his or her treasury management system. Think about payment advices. Collect this information and you can use it to optimise the funding of your cash pools. Your TIP will act as an information hub for the treasury department, passing data back and forth between various systems.
  • If it does not provide a flexible reporting engine, you will not be able to react to ever­changing requests from internal and external sources and will essentially resort to time­consuming, cumbersome and error-prone spreadsheet reporting. Flexible not only means that it covers all functional aspects. lt also means that even without being an IT guru you should get meaningful information out of the system. However, be on your guard if you are told that you will be able to create sophisticated reports within minutes without any training. That only works well in promotional videos. Invest some time in proper training and be the master of your reports.
  • If it is not easy to maintain, you will be frustrated by the administrative overhead of the system instead of working straight on the analysis of the data. lt needs to be straightforward to add new users, companies and company groups. Whether via manual input or interfaces, the data needs to end up in your reporting solution without delay, without reprogramming, and without any external expertise.
  • If it is not extensible, you will be forced to install even more systems if a new function is required, such as cash flow forecasting, bank relationship management and guarantees. Therefore, think ahead. Before selecting a system, clearly state what you want it to do now and in the future.

Outline of system architecture

Below, I have outlined how such a system could fit into your existing system environment and what the interactions are between these components.

The TIP acts as the information hub between the various systems. lt receives and passes on data to and from other systems. Based on this data, all the reports are created without any need for manual consolidation.

Benefits of a TIP

  • The TIP receives the data from other systems and passes it on to other systems. This reduces the number of interfaces between systems and hence the overall complexity.
  • The reports are created from a single common data source. There will never again be any more mismatches between different reports as they are all created from the same set of data.
  • lt becomes less costly and less risky to replace components of your system architecture. If you need to replace one of the components, you can be sure of having a minimal impact on the overall system architecture. If you use a new treasury management system (TMS), you only need to replace a few interfaces between the TIP and the TMS. If you switch to a new market information provider – no problem, just replace the interface to the TIP. lt will pass on the data in the established way to all the other systems involved.
  • lt becomes easier to add new functionality: If you require a new function, for example, cash flow forecasting, it is also easier to update or extend a lightweight TIP instead of relying on the next release cycle of your TMS provider.
  • lt becomes easier to add acquisitions: Even if newly acquired companies are not integrated into your system infrastructure, they can use uploads or simple screens to provide their data.

Selecting a TIP

Usually, a TIP is selected because there is one burning issue that needs to be solved, for example, a group-wide overview of bank accounts or cash flow forecasting. If you select a TIP for any of these functionalities, always ask yourself what could be the next burning issue. These are usually identified by analysing the existing spreadsheet-based solutions. Any of these is a good candidate to be replaced by the TIP.

With this list in mind, look at the existing providers and make sure that they cover all your needs and not only the one that currently causes most of the pain. Also make sure that the system provider has treasury experience. Just think about cash flow forecasting. Most system vendors will tell you that planning is part of their system. However, a closer look will show you that basic functionality is missing; for example, the connection to the financial status as the starting point of the forecast or the display of credit facilities according to their maturity structure. Basic things, if you are treasurer, but a different world for the average system provider.

Also make sure that the system has an intuitive user interface, especially where large amounts of data are captured, for example, for the cash flow forecast. lt should be as easy as a spreadsheet­based solution in order to gain the acceptance needed. Interfaces should exist to all relevant standards and systems. Last and definitely not least, a large customer base that happily acts as references is a must. If this does not exist, the chances are high that the system provider will develop the system at your expense.

Look at your current treasury reporting. If you encounter lots of spreadsheet-based solutions, if you see files transferred via e-mail, if a lot of manual work is needed to create reports and if you find yourself tracking down differences between different reports time and again, you should consider a treasury reporting solution like TIP.

For more information please refer to TIPCO Treasury & Technology

Hubert Rappold – CEO at TIPCO Treasury & Technology

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Blockchain and the Ripple effect: did it ripple?

|24-4-2017 | Carlo de Meijer | treasuryXL

Our expert Carlo de Meijer has published an interesting article about a blockchain initiative that we want to share with you. We have slightly shortened the original article about Ripple.

 

Who is Ripple?

Have you ever thrown a stone in still water of a river or a lake. I did! The effect is rippling the water in a way that can be followed outwards incrementally. It might be this effect that the founders of Ripple, the payments blockchain network had in mind when choosing the name for their project. Did it ripple?

San Francisco based Ripple is seen as one of the most advanced distributed ledger technology (DLT) companies in the industry, which focuses on the using of blockchain-like technology for payments.

In just four years, Ripple has established itself as a key player in the fast-growing distributed ledger technology world. Since 2013, the Ripple Protocol has been adopted by an increasing number of financial institutions to “[offer] an alternative remittance option” to consumers. Especially the years 2015 and 2016 marked the expansion of Ripple, with the opening of an office in Sydney (April 2015) and the opening of European offices in London (March 2016 ) and in Luxembourg (June 2016).
In June last year, Ripple obtained a virtual currency license from the New York State Department of Financial Services, making it the fourth company with a BitLicense. As of 2017, Ripple is the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, after Bitcoin and Ether.

What is Ripple?

Ripple is a financial real-time gross settlement solution, currrency exchange and remittance network using distributed ledger technology. Released in 2012, it purports to enable “secure, instant and nearly free global financial transactions of any size with no chargebacks”.
Ripple is built upon a distributed open source Internet protocol, consensus ledger and native currency called XRP (ripples) enabling (cross-border) payments for retail customers, corporations, and other banks.
The Ripple Protocol, described as “basic (settlement) infrastructure technology for interbank transactions”, enables the interoperation of different ledgers and payment networks and brings together three aspects of modern payment solutions: messaging, settlement and FX management. It allows banks and non-bank financial services companies to incorporate the Ripple Protocol into their own systems, and therefore allow their customers to use the service.

The protocol enables the instant and direct transfer of money between two parties. As such the protocol can circumvent the fees and wait times of the traditional correspondent banking system. Any type of currency can be exchanged including USD, euros, RMB, yen, gold, airline miles, and rupees.
“Ripple simplifies the [exchange] process by creating point-to-point and transparent transfers in which banks do not have to pay corresponding bank fees.” Chris Larssen, former CEO Ripple

The Ripple company also created its own form of digital currency dubbed XRP in a manner similar to bitcoin, using the currency to allow financial institutions to transfer money with “negligible fees and wait-time. One of the specific functions of XRP is as a bridge currency, which can be necessary if no direct exchange is available between two currencies at a specific time. For example when transacting between two rarely traded currency pairs. Within the network’s currency exchange, XRP are traded freely against other currencies, and its market price fluctuates against dollars, euros, yen, bitcoin etc.

Did it Ripple?

Growing adoption by banks
Ripple has experienced a growing adoption by banks. Many financial companies have subsequently announced experimenting and integrations with Ripple. The first bank to use Ripple was the online-only Fidor Bank in Munich, which announced the partnership early 2014. Fidor Bank would be using the Ripple protocol to implement a new real-time international money transfer network.
Since then a host of major banks have adopted Ripple to improve their cross-border payments, and many have completed trial blockchain projects. These banking institutions – including Santander, UniCredit, UBS, Royal Bank of Canada, Westpac Banking Corporation, CIBC, and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, among others – view Ripple’s payment protocol and exchange network as a valid mechanism for offering real-time affordable money transfers.

Some recent developments in the Ripple network

The real uptake of Ripple however started to take place in 2016 and continued during the first quarter of 2017.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (February 2017), Axis Bank (January 2017), SEB (November 2016), Standard Chartered (September 2016), and National Australia Bank (September 2016) are the latest banks to join Ripple’s blockchain-powered network for cross-border payments. And more banks will get on the Ripple bandwagon during 2017. Ripple says its network now includes 12 of the top 50 global banks, ten banks in commercial deal phases, and over 30 bank pilots completed.
“Banks and their customers have been hearing about the promise of blockchain technology to enable real-time cross-border payments. Now, some of the most innovative and successful banks like NBAD are making this a reality by offering Ripple-enabled payments to their entire customer base, and in doing so, paving the way to make 2017 the year we see broad commercialization of blockchain take hold globally.” Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple

Further Rippling: enlarging the network

Global Payments Steering Group
Last year September Ripple created the “first: interbank group for global payments based on distributed financial technology. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Santander, UniCredit, Standard Chartered, Westpac, and Royal Bank of Canada have joined as founding members of the network, known as the Global Payments Steering Group (GPSG). CIBC will also join the GPSG as a new member.
“The creation of GPSG is significant because this represents the first time that major banks have formulated policies to govern the transfer of money across borders using blockchain,” Donald Donahue, GPSG chairman.

GPSG aims to use Ripple’s technology to slash the time and cost of settlement while enabling new types of high-volume, low-value global transactions. The group will oversee the creation and maintenance of Ripple payment transaction rules, formalised standards for activity using Ripple, and other actions to support the implementation of Ripple payment capabilities.

R3CEV
Last year October R3 and twelve of its blockchain consortium member banks – including Barclays, NAB, Nordea, Royal Bank of Canada, Santander – have trialled Ripple’s Digital Asset XRP, to tackle the costs and inefficiencies of interbank cross-border payments. Ripple says XRP has the “fastest” settlement speed, settling in about five seconds or less.
“The prototype paves the way for a major overhaul of how banks process and settle cross border payments”. David Rutter, CEO of R3

Banks traditionally provision liquidity for cross-border payments by holding various currencies in local accounts with correspondent banks around the world. But these ‘nostro’ accounts are costly because banks have to fund them, trapping capital. Ripple argues that this can be fixed by instead using a digital asset – such as its XRP – which provides liquidity on demand.
Ripple’s network was trialled in R3’s lab and research centre, making markets for fiat currencies using XRP and then completing authenticated payments without multiple nostro accounts. The trial introduced XRP to test the feasibility of reducing or retiring the use of current nostro accounts for local currency payouts.

Ripple Innovations

In the meantime a number of important innovations were announced in the Ripple offering.

Ripple Validator Node
Global IT company CGI announced it is the first commercial enterprise to implement the Ripple Validator Node. Ripple validators are servers that confirm Ripple’s distributed financial technology transactions on the network. The CGI-hosted Ripple Validator Node provides banking clients with a trusted network partner for Ripple’s distributed financial technology that settles international and domestic transactions in real-time.

Smart Token Chain
Smart Token Chain (STC), a blockchain specialist in the FinTech sector, has completed its first full Smart Token transaction across the Ripple Network. Using Ripple gives STC universal access to a wide range of partners and customers without having to physically craft a digital relationship with each one. STC is leveraging Ripple’s open, neutral platform, called “Interledger Protocol” to move payments globally across different ledgers and networks.
Leveraging the Ripple platform with new Smart Token solutions is accelerating the move toward the launch of a truly useful blockchain and smart contract implementation, which has great potential for making global exchanges of value fast, affordable and highly secure. It also provides a well-documented audit trail that will make dispute resolutions more efficient and less frequent.

Ripple’s new cost model

Ripple created a cost model, designed specifically to help banks understand their cost structure and how Ripple can help them overcome current inefficiencies. With Ripple’s new cost model, banks can easily enter transaction volume and operational metrics to receive a custom cost analysis. The cost analysis breaks down cost to a per-payment level, for both a bank’s current system and if it were to use Ripple. By using this model banks can easily estimate the efficiency gains it could achieve using Ripple for international payments.
XRP Incentive Program

The XRP incentive program is designed to accelerate the use of XRP as a universal bridge currency by creating deep and liquid markets at the outset of being listed on digital exchanges. The program is funded by Ripple and will be operationally managed by exchanges for their liquidity providers.

Global financial institutions are increasingly looking for solutions to consolidate the liquidity tied up with the nostro accounts required to fund their overseas payments. Digital assets such as XRP allow for banks to fund their payments in real-time, and in the process, cut down their dependency on nostro accounts.
As a bridge currency, it can enable liquidity concentration around fewer currency pairs, making cross-border payments more efficient. As evidenced by R3’s trial with XRP for interbank cross-border payments, the use of Ripple and XRP can enable both cost-cutting and revenue opportunities for participating institutions.

BitGo makes XRP more accessible
Ripple’s efforts to build an active ecosystem around its XRP digital asset has been boosted by a deal with virtual currency processor BitGo. Under the programme, BitGo will provide multi-signature security, advanced treasury management and additional enterprise functionality for XRP, which will be integrated into the BitGo platform this year.

The Rippling goes on!

Ripple plans to enlarge the number of exchanges trading XRP. Working with a greater number of exchanges to list XRP is an important step to serve the growing demand for global payments in major and exotic currency corridors. Ripple has previously commented that by using its network and XRP as a bridge asset, banks can save up to 42% on interbank international payments.

“This cost-saving frees up capital to generate revenue opportunities, including new product offerings for high-volume, low-value payments and access to new corridors”, claims Ripple.

The Ripple effect goes on!

 

Carlo de Meijer

Economist and researcher

 

Interesting apples and oranges a.k.a. the Dutch Fintech Awards

|18-4-2017 | Pieter de Kiewit

One of my friends who works in human capital development and is a psychologist, explained me once how we can increase our creative output. One of the elements he mentioned was mixing up the way information comes to you and how you digest it. For example, if you are used to create business plans  sitting behind your desk and writing, a multi-person brainstorm session might tap into your undiscovered creative potential. And the other way around: if you are talker/listener, try writing for a change.

Bearing this in mind, I always try to combine personal meetings, with calls, with reading, events and so on. For the people who know me: I am always behind on my reading. So much to read, so little time! Events and personal meetings get my creative juices flowing. Today I trained MBA students of RSM in their labour market approach, very inspiring. And I look forward to the Dutch Fintech Awards that are organized shortly.

Dutch FinTech Awards

Being a recruiter with a focus on corporate treasury, I have tried to find the Fintech Awards contenders with a relevance for the corporate treasury community. This is not as obvious as it seems, only a few are. I do not envy the jury of this event. Categorizing the contenders is almost impossible, let alone judging them. Comparing blokchain insurance with video financial services sales and a crowdfunding platform with easy on-line payments, is comparing apples with oranges. One thing is clear: some of the potential award winners are very good at attracting social media attention.

Despite their diversity, each of the companies tells a different inspiring story. Some of them are about cutting edge technology, some of them are about understanding potential clients, others are about smart entrepreneurship. One thing I am sure of is that the level of creativity of the entrepreneurs will be extremely high. I am ready to be inspired and will inform you in my review blog afterwards.

On 21 April the Dutch FinTech Awards will take place in Utrecht. A day with many international keynote speakers, provoking master classes and pitches by the Dutch FinTech 50. Make sure you register today and join this unique opportunity to meet 300 International FinTech stakeholders. Via treasuryXL you can get a discount on the regular ticket. More information

Pieter de Kiewit

 

 

Pieter de Kiewit
Owner Treasurer Search

 

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