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Treasury: the sad story about the ones that do not get it
28-04-2021 | treasuryXL | Pieter de Kiewit
The great Dutch philosopher Johan Cruijff said: “Je gaat het pas zien als je het door hebt”, roughly translated “you only see if you get it”. I recently thought about this when visiting and working with a mid-sized local company. Their treasury team was much bigger than the teams of companies in the same industry two or three times their revenue size. In this team, for example, they had two employees full-time entering manual payments. Data and instructions are gathered from a multitude of systems and typed into banking software. Time is lost, mistakes are made, staff demotivated and money lost. They refused to hire a qualified candidate who could help because his expected base salary was a few thousands of euros too high…..
Recently the Dutch regulatory body for financial markets, AFM, published this research that shows that companies would benefit from a more mature market in alternative funding. One of their observations is that new solutions, for instance in working capital, are accepted even though the rates that have to be paid are preposterous. They see the market grow, not enough focus on credit rating and doubt if the market will stabilize in a professional manner. A stronger regulatory framework is suggested. I am in doubt, who will do the audit?
Personally I hope that entrepreneurs and CFOs will train their critical thinking and only use what they understand. Cost that are hidden in the total price of their treasury solutions are regretfully accepted easier than a separate price for the right solution and one for the advice. That is regrettable because one of the effects is that companies get perhaps the cheapest but the wrong solutions.
We have a simple suggestion: digest what you know about treasury and ask the most obvious question you can think of. Ask the expert panel and pass our suggestion forward to anyone you might think have a proper question. It is a matter of time until we get it all. I am sure.
Take care, Pieter
Pieter de Kiewit
Owner at Treasurer Search
Webinar Reminder | April 28 | “Bitcoin. Is this the New Reality in Corporate Treasury or is it a Hoax?”
| 27-04-2021 | VU Amsterdam |
Have you signed up for the webinar for tomorrow? Here is your reminder call, enjoy!
This Webinar is offered to you by the postgraduate programme Treasury Management & Corporate Finance at the School of Business and Economics.
Webinar Treasury Management in short
Date: Wednesday 28 April 2021
Time: 19.00 – 20.30 hrs.
Costs: Free-of-charge
Bitcoins are in the news. Opinions vary a lot in between “the new global currency standard” and “difficult to understand in practice and governance”. Corporate Treasurers need at least to have a start of an opinion. We see Tesla and other big corporates currently buying crypto currencies. What are opinions among corporate treasury professionals? Is investing surplus cash in crypto currencies the new reality in corporate treasury or is it a hoax?
Tristan Verhagen, a student in our TM&CF programme, will introduce the topic at this webinar. Tristan will share his provoking ideas about investing surplus cash in Bitcoin. Is this the New Reality in Treasury or a Hoax? Tristan wrote an academic paper on this subject and this has added value in terms of a new insight for the treasury professional and is very useful for experts as well as laymen to be updated on the issue.
Description Academic Paper
As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important for (institutional) investors and (corporate) treasurers to understand the effects of central bank and government intervention. Especially in the context of Bitcoin and the unique attributes it possesses. The role of central banks and governments in stabilizing the economy and the realization of economic growth in the aftermath of crises is becoming ever more important. Currently central banks and governments are “all in” to cushion the effect(s) of the current crisis. The response is considered to be bigger and broader than it was for the great financial crisis. Interest rates are historically low and central bank balance sheets have expanded considerably. This led to a significant increase in the money supply, which sparked a debate among economists about the implications for inflation.
When central banks and governments worldwide enact in ‘quantitative easing’ and increase the money supply, the associated fiat currencies depreciate in value. In contrast, Bitcoin experiences a ‘quantitative tightening’ (or reduction) of new supply as halving events programmatically decrease the number of new Bitcoin entering circulation regardless the demand for the asset. This feature is native to the digital protocol and possibly makes it the ultimate ‘store of value’ asset. During times of economic uncertainty and in a world where ‘software is eating the world’ more and more (institutional) investors and (corporate) treasurers are becoming convinced of the potential of Bitcoin. The paper/discussion aims to investigate to what extent this is justified.
Speakers
Tristan Verhagen MSc MSRE graduated in Strategic Management from Tilburg University. Real estate is the cornerstone of his career. He has worked for various real estate investors and is now Director Finance & Control at Eigen Haard. A few years ago, he fell through the Bitcoin rabbit hole and since then his views on money and monetary policy have changed significantly. He is open to the idea that Bitcoin’s unique properties will in the future lead to it becoming an important (macro) asset and therefore suitable for a large group of investors (e.g. insurance companies and pension funds).
Strong ideas are worth to have strong opposition, so we have two panel members to challenge the vision of the keynote speaker.
Wilko Bolt is a Senior Economist in the Economics and Research department at De Nederlandsche Bank in Amsterdam and Professor of Payment Systems at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His current research focuses on the payment economics, digital currencies, two-sided markets theory and antitrust implications. He has published in journals such as American Economic Review, European Economic Review, Economic Theory, International Journal of Industrial Organization, International Journal of Central Banking and Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. Bolt was awarded the Hennipman Prize by the Dutch Royal Economic Association in 2007 for his research.
Joan Schutte joined ASML back in 2014 as VP & Corporate Treasurer and is responsible for Treasury, Corporate Finance and Insurances globally. From 2010 to 2014 Joan was Director Treasury for VimpelCom (Veon) in Amsterdam. Before that, he worked 12 years for US based Sara Lee Corporation in various Treasury roles in Curaçao, Singapore and Chicago and as Finance Director for the global procurement function in Utrecht. Joan started his career in Treasury in Belgium for CSM NV and Campbell Soup Company. Joan holds a MSc in Economics from the University of Amsterdam. He serves on the Board of the Dutch Association of Corporate Treasurers (DACT) and has served on the Board of the Association of Corporate Treasurers Singapore (ACTS).
The webinar is moderated by Pieter de Kiewit, he is treasury aficionado, recruitment consultant and owner of Treasurer Search. Together with his team, Pieter finds candidates for interim assignments and permanent positions in corporate treasury. Pieter holds an MSc. in Organizational Science (Technische Bedrijfskunde, Universiteit Twente) and has over 25 years experience in international recruitment. In many ways he contributes to the treasury community by connecting people and companies. He supports educators, for example as a member of the management board of the RT programme of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. On a regular basis he blogs, presents and moderates with the purpose to make treasury known by a bigger audience and facilitate experts to deepen their knowledge.
For whom?
We specifically invite our alumni of the PGO Treasury Management & Corporate Finance and those interested to join the programme and DACT members. Of course, those professionally involved in the subject, TreasuryXL – followers, are also very welcome to join. A truly inclusive (corporate) treasury community!
Save money instantly with a Foreign Currency Account (Dutch Item)
26-04-2021 | Erna Erkens | treasuryXL |
Als u Internationaal handelt of u wilt beleggen in vreemde valuta kan een Vreemde valuta rekening interessant zijn. U kunt zo’n rekening bij de meeste Nederlandse banken openen. Op een vreemde valuta rekening heeft u geen geldbedragen in Euros’s staan, maar in een buitenlandse vreemde valuta. Denk aan de Amerikaanse Dollar of de Japanse Yen. U kunt alleen girale transacties doen vanaf uw vreemde valuta rekening. Direct geld opnemen is niet mogelijk. Dan gelden er andere koersen.
Een vreemde valuta rekening voor internationale handel
Stel u heeft een bedrijf waarvoor u goederen wilt inkopen uit Azië. U heeft een goede leverancier gevonden, maar deze wil wel graag in dollars betaald worden. U heeft bij uw bank alleen een Euro rekening en betaalt daardoor de factuur in Euro’s. In deze situatie is uw bank verantwoordelijk voor de aankoop van de benodigde dollars.
De aankoop van de dollars door de bank wordt geregeld via een centraal betalingsverkeersysteem. De bank is in dit soort situaties niet altijd even aardig voor haar klanten. De bank rekent meestal ongeveer 1 cent marge voor iedere transactie.
Stel dat u uw leverancier uit Azië een bedrag van 100.000 dollar moet betalen. Uw bank rekent in dit geval tot 600 euro marge. Deze marge gaat weer af van uw eigen winstmarge.
En wat dacht u van grotere transacties zoals 1 miljoen dollar. Dan betaalt u de bank 5.000 tot 6.000 Euro’s aan marge!
Door zelf een dollarrekening te openen houdt u de aankoop van dollars in eigen hand en dat levert dus direct winst op.
Wisselkoers bij een vreemde valuta rekening
Als u een vreemde valuta rekening heeft geopend kunt u zelf bepalen op welk moment u de dollars
koopt om de factuur in dollars te betalen aan uw leverancier. Wel is het belangrijk dat het binnen uw bedrijf duidelijk is wie deze taak op zich neemt. De kosten (lees marge voor de bank) is dan een stuk lager. Hetzelfde geldt natuurlijk als u vreemde valuta ontvangt uit het buitenland. U kunt uw vreemde
valuta op deze rekening boeken. U kunt zelf bepalen op welk moment u deze weer verkoopt.
Degene die verantwoordelijk is voor betalingen vanaf de vreemde valuta rekening heeft wel een extra taak en het is wel handig om de wisselkoersen in de gaten houden. Dat kan helpen om de dollars of andere valuta op een goed moment te kopen of te verkopen.
Bron
Erna Erkens