Revisited: A Focused Approach to Risk Management

by Maciej Müldner, Treasurer, Skanska Poland

In mid-2009, Maciej Müldner, Treasurer of Skanska Poland outlined how treasury approached risk management in the light of the crisis. Just over a year on, this article summarises Skanska’s strategy, its effectiveness and how the business has developed.

Skanska globally combines both centralised and decentralised elements in its financial management strategy. Skanska Financial Services provides a central in-house bank, but there is also a treasury function for each business unit. In some cases, such as in Poland, this comprises a team of 12 individuals, while in other countries, the treasury function may be smaller. Treasury in Poland needs to support between 100-300 projects each season, each one of which operates as a separate entity. Around seven members of the team provide daily financial operational support to these projects and the remainder are involved in cash management. 

We conduct transactions across a range of financial instruments, including traditional hedging, capital financing, leasing, project finance etc. and perform all associated activities with the exception of accounting. To enable this, we use several modules of a TMS (treasury management system) globally which is integrated with our general ledger. This is used across the business, supporting all our main business lines including hedging, cash management (which also comprises a payments factory), documentary credits (such as guarantees), which are important in the construction sector, and insurance lines.

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