BCR Publishing
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.
Treasury is dead. Long live treasury?
| 11-09-2018 | Eurofinance | treasuryXL |
If Global Business Services models can do a better job at HR, procurement, networks, IT and data analytics, why doesn’t it just take over treasury? At some firms, it’s already happening.
Shared services are again all the rage as companies search for the short-term wage arbitrage of offshoring. At the end of 2016, Warner Music Group announced the creation of a new US centre of excellence for Shared Services in Nashville, Tennessee, to aggregate its US Accounting Operations, Cash Management and Recorded Music Rights Administration. In June 2016, Eltel announced its intention to establish a new Global Shared Services centre in Poland later this year. The decision has now been taken to locate the centre to Gdansk. The centre will provide all Eltel businesses globally with support services in the field of finance, human resources and procurement. And Nestlé, as part of an ongoing programme of structural cost saving, has recently set up two more SSCs, one in China and one in Portugal taking the total to nine.
Initially, treasury is in control of the outsourcing of its functions. The creation of one or more shared service centres is driven by a corporate desire for lower-cost, higher efficiency processes. Treasurers’ solution has been to centralise treasury operations and to outsource non-strategic treasury processes.
Typically, this process starts with streamlining bank account structures, bank account management and pooling mechanisms, often by moving to a single banking partner. This eliminates manual processes, creates greater cash visibility and gives treasury access to real-time information, allowing it to develop better cash forecasting and insights into the underlying businesses. Standardisation is achieved through the adoption of ISO standards or the creation of company-wide process templates.
The full article written by Simon Brady can be read on the Eurofinance website.
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Reminder Event: TOMORROW’S EUROPE: Uncertainty and unprecedented opportunity
| 10-09-2018 | Reuters | treasuryXL |
Join this dynamic discussion where a panel of economic, geopolitical and business experts will explore what ‘Tomorrow’s Europe’ may look like.
Europe is at a crossroads. It faces many challenges – from globalisation and geopolitics, to the impact of new technologies and trade agreements. But change also brings great opportunities for the brave and adaptable. Above all, innovation, entrepreneurship and investment will be the foundations of future prosperity. And businesses – as the main creators of jobs and growth – have a pivotal role in determining what ‘Tomorrow’s Europe’ will become.
Our expert panel will discuss
All this, and much more, up for debate at the Axica, Berlin on 19 September 2018.
Agenda
6:30 pm: Arrive and sign in
7:00 pm: Welcome and introductions
7:10 pm: Panel discussion
8:00 pm: Audience Q&A
8:30 pm: Networking drinks reception
Meet the Speakers
(Additional panellists to be announced shortly)
Özlem Bedre-Defolie
Associate Professor of Economics, ESMT
Özlem Bedre-Defolie is an associate professor (with tenure) of economics at ESMT Berlin. Her research has been published in leading Economics, Marketing and Industrial Organization journals, including American Economic Review, Journal of Economic Theory, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, Marketing Science, International Journal of Industrial Organization.
Ferdinand Fichtner
Head of Department, DIW Berlin
Dr. Ferdinand Fichtner is Head of the Forecasting and Economic Policy Department at DIW Berlin. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cologne and wrote his dissertation thesis about the effects of monetary integration on economic welfare. He is one of the leading German experts on macroeconomic policy, with frequent appearances on national and international media and close connections with German and European policy makers.
Josef Janning
Head of European Council on Foreign Relations, Berlin Office
Josef Janning joined the European Council on Foreign Relations in April 2014 as Senior Policy Fellow in the Berlin Office. Josef has published widely on European Affairs, International Relations, EU foreign and security policy, German foreign and European policy as well as global affairs. On these issues he also is a frequent commentator with German and international media.
Panel Moderator: Vanessa Cuddeford
Vanessa Cuddeford is a journalist and presenter with 15 years’ experience. She anchors and reports for the BBC and Reuters, regularly presenting news, arts and business programmes for international broadcasters.
This event is for:
Business leaders / senior executives / entrepreneurs
For more information or if you want to register for the event visit the events website.
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Testing Treasurers for Integrity
| 06-09-2018 | by Pieter de Kiewit |
Last month Dutch newspapers published about two convictions that made me further think about the combination of treasurers and integrity. In the Vestia case, derivatives fraud within the largest social housing corporation of The Netherlands, the treasurer and broker were sentenced to time in jail. With ABN Amro, staff was being let go for falsifying signatures in mortgage documentation. The severity of the two cases is very different, but integrity of staff was relevant. Could these cases have been prevented?
In the development of the Treasuer Test (https://www.treasurersearch.com/blogs/3/s66ebd-getting-ready-to-launch-the-treasurer-test!), one of the most asked features is an integrity test of the testee. The development partners have scanned the market for the availability of such a test and received very mixed messages. Some parties offer questionnaires that pretend to measure this personality trait, others say it cannot be measured at all. Between these two there are service provider that do full day assessments, not just questionnaires, and claim good results. We have pondered on the subject and decided not to include this element in the test.
In recruitment we rely on past behaviour when wanting to make a statement on integrity. Reference checks and screening of documents by companies that offer private-investor-like services will bring the most solid results in my opinion. In The Netherlands one can ask for a “verklaring omtrent gedrag (VOG)” at the municipality that report about criminal behaviour. That would be proof something is not good, not proof things are good.
All in all it is a tricky subject. One thing one can be sure of: the candidate that lacks integrity will not inform you about this. Furthermore one can ask if integrity is solely in the person or that an environment can create non-integrity. Perhaps pushing for results and at the same time doing the right thing is a hard task. I would like to read about your thoughts about the subject.
Pieter de Kiewit
Owner Treasurer Search