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We are the leading provider of news, market intelligence, events and training for the global receivables finance industry.
Working with industry leading organisations, experts, governments and universities, BCR Publications delivers expertise in factoring, receivables and supply chain finance to a global audience.
BCR has long been a beacon of innovation and excellence in the realm of receivables finance, playing an instrumental role in shaping the industry’s international landscape. Through its comprehensive conferences, insightful publications, and thought leadership, BCR has facilitated crucial dialogues and connections among industry professionals, driving forward the development of receivables finance globally.
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BELLIN 1TC treasury convention
| 7-3-2019 | treasuryXL | BELLIN
For the seventh year running, the BELLIN 1TC Treasury Convention broke all the previous records. Over 500 attendees flocked to Rust on February 13/14. What did we learn? Here are the main takeaways from all the exciting debates, workshops and conversations in a nutshell:
1. Time is ripe for disruptive technology
Buzzwords such as digitization, Artificial Intelligence (AI) or blockchain have been around for years. But only now are we moving from abstract concepts to concrete implementation. We’re at the beginning of an exciting and challenging new era, in which we’re called to put new technology to use where it will benefit treasury the most. Whether it is the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in fraud prevention, liquidity planning or decision-making or the use of blockchain for KYC issues: the potential is enormous but implementation must be well thought through. Ultimately, technology is a means to an end. The feedback from 1TC was clear: treasurers believe that new technologies are going to change their work life, and they are expecting their vendors to incorporate this technology in their systems.
2. The treasurer of the future
In recent years, treasurers have come into their own and established themselves as key players for their organizations. But what impact are new technologies going to have on treasury? What will be left of the treasury function as we know it in ten years? Will there still be treasurers in the future? What remains when all the treasury processes that have been digitized and automated disappear from the job portfolio? One thing is for sure: the core responsibilities of a treasurer are going to change, and treasurers are going to have to change with them. Treasurers need to develop a vision for their profession, and this vision needs to come from within the treasury community. In the age of technology, treasurers need to work out where and why they are needed and advertise their role. What is also indisputable is that technology is only ever as good as its users. So while the treasury profession will by no means become extinct, it does need to reinvent itself to some extent, to find new ways and to get connected.
3. Treasury organization 5.0
Treasury has reached a turning point. On one hand, treasurers are faced with the challenge of implementing technologies and structures already at their disposal in order to continue to simplify, automate, standardize and centralize processes. On the other hand, they need to look to the future and implement organizational changes and technologies that address two key issues: security and collaboration – within treasury and beyond. The objective must be to strengthen the internal organization and to get connected within your organization and with external stakeholders, in order to be ready to face any threats and market developments.
4. Faster global payments
The treasury of the future needs real-time solutions. An efficient, powerful treasury requires fast and efficient cross-border payment processing. This is why treasurers are looking for solutions to make payments faster. Nearly 75% of 1TC attendees are convinced: gpi technology will be a major step forward for their global payments processing. Meanwhile, a panel discussion between Ripple and SWIFT introduced Ripple’s cross-border payment solution based on blockchain – an offering most attendees (80%) had not come across yet. We’re excited to see if and when this technology will make its way into treasury. gpi on the other hand has just entered the world of treasury. As an Early Adopter, BELLIN has implemented the technology and has been piloting it with clients. Following Release 19.1 in April of 2019, it will become very easy for BELLIN SWIFT Service clients to implement SWIFT for Corporates (SWIFT g4C). And by the way: BELLIN is the most successful of all the L2BA connectors to the SWIFT Network: 55% of all connected corporates were connected through BELLIN.
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Blockchain and disruption in the financial world: Will banks survive?
| 4-3-2019 | Carlo de Meijer | treasuryXL
The world of banking as we know for many years is in a fundamental transformation process, triggered by new technologies. The most important is blockchain that is said to fundamentally change the way financial transactions are handled today. It is forecasted that this technology will have significant consequences on how traditional banks do business in the future, enabling new business models, deliver new value propositions and solve longstanding challenges, with the well-needed transparency and security in transactions that nowadays involve multiple parties and large amounts of data.
Though this technology is currently still at a nascent stage, blockchain is proclaimed to be a game-changing, disruptive innovation that holds the capability of completely shaking up the landscape of banking in the coming years. Others even proclaim that blockchain will make banks (entirely) obsolete.
Questions that arise are: how will blockchain technology drive disruption in the banking industry, what are the main areas that will be touched, and how will the banking ecosystem look like in say five to ten years from now.
But what is disruption (not!)?
But before answering these questions, it is important to agree what disruption really means. Since the word disruption was launched in the nineties this term has been used for so many things that it has lost their original meaning. Everything that is ‘new’ is described as disruptive and/or innovative.
It was the US professor Clayton Christensen who introduced the idea of disruptive innovation in 1997. According to him disruption means “any innovation that transforms a complicated, expensive product into one that is easier to use or is more affordable than the one most readily available”.
Disruption has three components: responding to competitors effectively; identifying new growth opportunities; and, improving understanding of what customers want.
“A disruptive business is likely to start by either satisfying the less-demanding customers or creating a market when none existed before. So, when mainstream customers start adopting the entrants’ offerings in volume, disruption has occurred”.Clayton Christensen
It is however very difficult to know in advance what real disruptors are. The process is often very long. It could take years before the true effects of disruption are presenting themselves in the market.
Though the classic examples of disruption involved technological advancements, disruption is not all about technology. Not every successful business or product needs to disrupt. But disruption is any time organizations find a more efficient, better way of doing things that attracts customers.
What makes blockchain (so) disruptive for banks?
What makes blockchain so disruptive for the banking industry? Why is this technology forecasted to revolutionising the way banks are nowadays doing business? The answer to this question lies in the three specific in-build properties of a blockchain: Decentralized, distributed and Immutability. These differ completely from those of banks that are centralised organisations.
Decentralized network
Blockchain operates on a decentralized network, that is acting on a peer-to-peer basis. It handles all operations similar to a bank, but without any central authority that monitors all data. So it potentially cuts out the middleman, giving back the power to the owner of the assets (i.e. data or tokens carrying some financial value).
All information is stored across its network via blocks. These blocks, that are time-stamped and linked together with all past and current transactions, are permanently recorded and consistently reconciled and updated in a cryptographically secure way. By storing data across its network, blockchain eliminates the risks that come with data being held centrally.
Distributed ledger
A second property of blockchain is the distributed ledger, that allows sharing of a ledger of activity – such as arbitrary data or virtually anything of value between multiple parties. What makes blockchain so important is its ability to automate trust and transparency among all parties using it. Because the ledger is distributed among all transaction participants, it exists simultaneously in multiple places. Each of the computers in the distributed network maintains a copy of the ledger to ensure transparency and also prevent a single point of failure and all copies are updated and validated simultaneously. This makes it extremely difficult to manipulate entries or tamper with the data without the other parties noticing.
Immutable records
A third unique property is its immutability. By design, blockchains are inherently resistant to modification of data. All blockchain networks adhere to a certain protocol for validating new blocks. No changes can be made once the system is set with the initial standards. Once recorded, the data in any given block cannot be altered without the alteration of all the subsequent blocks, which requires the consensus of the network majority.
Read the full article of our expert Carlo de Meijer on LinkedIn
Carlo de Meijer
Economist and researcher
Treasury Management & Corporate Finance
| 28-2-2019 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam |
The RT program starts 1 september 2019
The post-graduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance programme combines two finance disciplines: Treasury Management and Corporate Finance. These disciplines largely overlap and are inextricably connected.
This post-graduate executive programme has now been running for more than 20 years at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It is a unique programme both in the Netherlands and abroad.
As from September 2018 the programme will be delivered entirely in English to appeal to the increasingly large community of non-Dutch-speaking finance professionals in the Netherlands.
Participants successfully completing this post-graduate executive programme will be awarded with the title of Registered Treasurer. This title is well-known and widely recognized within the treasury professionals’ community.
The curriculum consists of 6 modules, each of which covers a clear sub-discipline in Treasury Management and Corporate Finance. Each module comprises approx 8 lecture days on Thursdays (from 15:30 until 21:00). It is an intensive and efficient 18-month programme.
The post-graduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance programme is a strategic partner of the Dutch Association of Corporate Treasurers (DACT). Partners in the programme are KPMG, Orchard Finance, PwC, and Zanders Treasury & Finance Solutions. Senior affiliates are programme lecturers.
TESTIMONIALS
‘The program offers a lot: interaction with good teachers in a small setting, useful theoretical frameworks and a diverse network of fellow participants and alumni. Highly recommended to everyone working in the Corporate Treasury field, the RT title is a must-have for your professional career.’ (Emile Raymakers – Group Treasurer, Nutreco)
‘I have experienced the RT program as value added and refreshing to my knowledge and experience. Moreover, the program has a broader scope than pure Treasury Management, and offers a good learning experience in the areas of Corporate Finance and Financial Risk Management as well. The fairly small group allows a personal approach, permitting input from own experiences. This connects theory and practice. To summarize: a good investment for me and my employer!’ (Michel van Baardewijk – Treasurer, Vestia)
‘A fine academic program for corporate and public treasurers, their bankers and their consultants.’
(Ed de Bruin – Equity Sales Specialist, ABN AMRO Bank)
‘The ideal basis for the treasurer of the future.’ (Steven de Klein – Cash & Currency Manager – Royal Boskalis Westminster NV)
CONTACT
If you have any questions about the program, please feel free to contact us or visit our website.
Program secretariat Treasury Management & Corporate Finance
T 00 31 (0)20 – 598 72 31
E [email protected]
Visiting address:
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
School of Business and Economics, room 6A-55
De Boelelaan 1105
1081 HV Amsterdam