Articles
My Life in Treasury: Helen Sanders, TMI
My Life in Treasury This edition marks my final one as Editor of TMI after nearly 12 remarkable years, so I thought I’d use the opportun...
2017 Awards for Innovation and Excellence - Introducing the Winners
Every year in the TMI Awards has marked a step change in the number and quality of award nominations, and 2017 was no exception, with some well-known banks and technology vendors, but some less familiar names too. This year Citi and HSBC won a clutch of awards in the...
2017 Corporate Recognition Awards: Harnessing Innovation to Enhance Treasury Performance
The end of 2017 marks a bittersweet time for me. These are my final Awards as Editor of TMI, but looking back over the past 12 years since I started with TMI, the Corporate Recognition awards have grown from a handful of awards in 2006 as a supplement to the bank and...
Pondering Payments
Ten years ago, the collapse of Lehman Bros and the rampaging financial crisis that followed started at Sibos. Despite the whirlwind that followed, the eye of the storm, in a room full of the world’s bankers, was eerily silent. The lights at the Lehman booth were,...
Flying the Fintech Kite
Technology innovation has always been intrinsic to the changing role of treasury, and been instrumental in creating opportunities for enhanced efficiency, control and capacity building. In some cases, such as electronic banking, technology has been delivered by banks...
Digitisation, Collaboration and Payments Transformation: Introducing the 2017 World Payments Report
Digitisation, Collaboration and Payments Transformation: Introducing the 2017 World Payments Report By Helen Sanders, Editor In this special executive interview, which coincides with Sibos 2017, Christophe Vergne, Payments and World Payments Report Leader,...
Keep Calm and Keep Investing
Keep Calm and Keep Investing Industry Reflections on European Money Market Funds In September 2017, six leading money market fund (MMF) providers were joined by corporate treasurer Séverine Le Blévennec from Honeywell and Justin Meadows, CEO of portal...
Waking the Sleeping Giant? The Potential for Trade Finance Transformation
Waking the Sleeping Giant? The Potential for Trade Finance Transformation By Helen Sanders, Editor There are few areas of modern life which have not seen radical change over the past two decades. The way we shop and communicate, the way we...
Visualising Risk in a Turbulent World
Visualising Risk in a Turbulent World Based on a webinar with Mark O’Toole, Vice President, Treasury Solutions, OpenLink and Craig Jeffery, Managing Partner, Strategic Treasurer. Chaired and edited by Helen Sanders, Editor, TMI Visualising risk using...
A Word from the Red Carpet on Managing Risk
A Word from the Red Carpet on Managing Risk By Helen Sanders, Editor While treasury and Hollywood often seem to be worlds apart, it was Helen Mirren who said, “Fear sometimes stops you from doing stupid things. But it can also stop you from doing creative or...
A New Era of Transaction Banking
A New Era of Transaction Banking Insights from Leading Bankers in Germany Ahead of Schwab Ley & Greiner’s annual Finanzsymposium, four leading bankers in Germany discussed some of the trends and challenges in transaction banking, moderated by Thomas...
World Café: A Shared Experience
World Café: A Shared Experience By Helen Sanders, Editor The World Café sessions at the EACT Summit were an excellent opportunity for participants to engage with their peers to discuss informally some of the key issues facing treasurers...
Breakout Sessions: Challenge, Debate and Insight
Breakout Sessions: Challenge, Debate and Insight By Helen Sanders, Editor Participants at the EACT Summit chose to attend two in-depth workshops to learn from leading treasurers, debate and share experiences in some of the areas where treasurers add the most value to...
Does Trapped Cash Really Matter?
Does Trapped Cash Really Matter? By Helen Sanders, Editor ‘Trapped cash’, or more precisely, cash that cannot be transferred from a country due to capital or currency controls, is not a new problem for treasurers. It’s also not a problem that is going...
Addressing Challenges, Delivering Value
Addressing Challenges, Delivering Value by Helen Sanders, Editor The TMI Corporate Recognition Awards reflect the pinnacle of achievement in treasury and finance policy, practice and innovation. With the help of banks, technology providers and consultants, the...
Innovation and Excellence in 2016: The Awards
Innovation and Excellence in 2016: The Awards by Helen Sanders, Editor Yet again, 2016 saw a record number of nominations and submissions for the TMI Awards for Innovation and Excellence across both bank/supplier and corporate categories. Once again, the quality...
New Year, New Cash Strategies?
New Year, New Cash Strategies? by Helen Sanders, Editor Ring out the old, ring in the new,Ring, happy bells, across the snow:The year is going, let him go;Ring out the false, ring in the true. Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam, 1850 Finding clarity amidst...
Enablers and Challengers: The Rise of Fintech
Enablers and Challengers: The Rise of Fintech by Helen Sanders, Editor, TMI The Cash Management University included an interesting and engaging series of in-depth workshops from which participants could choose, covering topics such as cash investment, payment factories...
Great Expectations or Pride & Prejudice?
Great Expectations or Pride & Prejudice? What do treasurers really want from their banks? by Helen Sanders, Editor “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” (African proverb) quoted Phil John, EMEA Treasury Director for...
The Next Milestone in Global Payment Transformation
The Next Milestone in Global Payment Transformation Helen Sanders, Editor We were delighted to recently have the opportunity to interview Wim Raymaekers, SWIFT’s Global Head of the Banking Market and project lead for the global payments innovation (gpi) initiative....
Building with Blockchain
Building with Blockchain by Helen Sanders, Editor Blockchain has appeared on the treasury horizon in a relatively indistinct form over the past eighteen months or so: indeed, so hazy and illusory the vision of solutions to come, some might consider them a...
A New Era of Ecosystem Banking
A New Era of Ecosystem Banking by Helen Sanders, Editor Standard Chartered launched its pioneering concept of ‘banking the ecosystem’ with a thought-provoking paper based on an in-depth analysis of the changing commercial pressures experienced by...
Rules of the Ecosystem
Rules of the Ecosystem by Helen Sanders, Editor Being fortunate enough to work from home, and watch the full annual lifecycle in our garden, from frosty ground to ripening juicy berries and apples with a reddening flush, the wonder of the natural ecosystem always...
Introducing the Global Payments Innovation Initiative
Including an exclusive interview with Wim Raymaekers, Head of Banking Markets, SWIFT SWIFT’s global payments innovation initiative which aims to streamline and increase transparency of cross-border payments, has attracted enormous interest from both banks and...
Powering the Efficient Economy: Innovation in Payments & Collections
Powering the Efficient Economy: Innovation in Payments & Collections An HSBC Industry View by Helen Sanders, Editor, in conversation with Mark Evans, Head of Payments Advisory, Global Liquidity and Cash Management, HSBC How would you characterise the payments landscape...
A Technology Transformation in the Middle East
A Technology Transformation in the Middle East In the last edition of TMI (edition 244), we featured an edited transcript of the first part of a roundtable held in Dubai in April 2016, kindly hosted by D+H, chaired by Jags KothandaPani, Citi, which focused on...
Heading South or Looking Up? Changing Trends in South-South Trade
Heading South or Looking Up?Changing Trends in South-South Trade by Helen Sanders, Editor The combination of China’s slowdown and commodity price volatility has resulted in significant damage to commodity-reliant economies, but does this spell the end – or...
Doing More with Less: Treasury Priorities in the Middle East
Doing More with Less: Treasury Priorities in the Middle East The following is an edited transcript of the first part of a roundtable held in Dubai in April 2016, kindly hosted by D+H and chaired by Jags KothandaPani, Citi. In this first part, the panel focuses...
A Sleeping Giant with One Eye Open
A Sleeping Giant with One Eye Open by Helen Sanders, Editor For the past decade, Africa has been feted as a nascent economic powerhouse whose wealth of natural resources, infrastructure investment, increasing productivity and growing international trade offered...
The Unintended Consequences of Banking Regulations
The Unintended Consequences of Banking Regulations by Helen Sanders, Editor, TMI Understanding and complying with evolving financial regulations is one of the most challenging aspects of treasurers’ role, particularly for organisations operating internationally....
The Next Generation of Asian Treasuries?
The Next Generation of Asian Treasuries? by Helen Sanders, Editor, TMI One of the most significant outcomes of globalisation and the development of markets in Asia is the emergence of Asian multinationals as companies with a strong domestic presence pursue growth...
A Decade of Corporate Recognition and Editor’s Choice Awards: the 2015 Results
A Decade of Corporate Recognition and Editor’s Choice Awards: the 2015 Results by Helen Sanders, Editor, TMI It is hard to believe that TMI’s Corporate Recognition and Editor’s Choice Awards, which I introduced soon after I became editor of TMI, are...
2015 TMI Awards for Innovation and Excellence: The Judges’ Comments
2015 TMI Awards for Innovation and Excellence: The Judges’ Comments by Helen Sanders, Editor Now in their seventeenth year, the 2015 TMI Awards for Innovation and Excellence once again attracted a great deal of interest from banks, technology providers and...
Managing Treasury in a New Climate
Managing Treasury in a New Climate by Helen Sanders, Editor, in conversation with Oscar Mazza, Head of Latin America Sales, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi It doesn’t seem so long ago that the media was full of references to the ‘BRIC’ miracle,...
Fraudster, Fool or Financier? Who’s Controlling Your Cash?
Fraudster, Fool or Financier? Who’s Controlling Your Cash? by Helen Sanders, Editor There is a saying that “if a man defrauds you once, he is a rascal; if he does it twice, you are a fool.” As the media headlines and crime statistics reveal,...
A Milestone in the RMB Liberalisation Journey
A Milestone in the RMB Liberalisation Journey by Helen Sanders, Editor With China continuing to be a major strategic growth market for corporations of all sizes and industries, many participants in BNP Paribas’ 8th Cash Management University were keen to...
Introducing the Stars of Cash & Treasury Management
Introducing the Stars of Cash & Treasury Management in association with BNP Paribas by Helen Sanders, Editor TMI has an established reputation for promoting best practices and innovation in cash and treasury management and recognising the achievements of corporate...
The Evolving Value Proposition of Payment Factories
The Evolving Value Proposition of Payment Factories The experience of six leading treasurers by Helen Sanders, Editor In June 2015, leading treasurers joined TMI and D+H in a roundtable moderated by Damian McMahon, director of the finance and treasury group for PwC in...
The Final Step in Payments Processing?
The Final Step in Payments Processing? by Helen Sanders, Editor, TMI One of the most significant evolutions in cash management over the past few years is the centralisation of payments through payment factories and shared service centres (SSCs). Since the Single Euro...
Five Steps to Managing FX Risk
Five Steps to Managing FX Risk by Helen Sanders, Editor There are some aspects of today’s treasury function that have really only emerged over the past decade: financial supply chain management, enterprise risk management etc. Some responsibilities have been core...
The Closing Chapter in the SEPA Story?
The Closing Chapter in the SEPA Story? by Helen Sanders, Editor, TMI From the launch of SEPA Credit Transfers in 2008, to the final end date in February 2014 – and the ‘final final’ end date six months later, the intervening six years marked a period...
The Business Case for a New Generation of Electronic Banking Systems in Asia Pacific
The Business Case for a New Generation of Electronic Banking Systems in Asia Pacific by Helen Sanders, Editor As TMI reported in March, 2015, cash management solutions provider Cashfac Technologies recently conducted a market survey, the Cashfac Operational Cash Index,...
From RTC to GTC? Treasury Centres in Asia Pacific Going Global
From RTC to GTC? Treasury Centres in Asia Pacific Going Global by Helen Sanders, Editor Treasury centralisation is nothing new, and is typically considered to be a best practice for many industries, depending on their business model and culture. However, when...
Turkey’s Fast Track to Digitisation
Turkey’s Fast Track to Digitisation by Helen Sanders, Editor With its strategic location between Europe, Asia and Middle East, Turkey has been a vital link in cross-continental trade routes and a melting pot of cultures for centuries. Increasingly, however,...
Würth Group Implements Two-Way RMB Sweeping with HSBC
Würth Group Implements Two-Way RMB Sweeping with HSBC by Helen Sanders 24 March 2015 Global fastening products corporation Würth Group has recently mandated relationship bank HSBC Germany to implement an automated, two-way RMB sweeping solution between China and...
The End of Cash Pooling?
The End of Cash Pooling? by Helen Sanders, Editor Cash pooling, particularly cash concentration (physical pooling) is well-established as a fundamental technique for treasurers to manage corporate liquidity, both domestically and cross-border (figure 1). However, given some...
New Era for the ‘Treasury Oscars’
New Era for the ‘Treasury Oscars’ by Helen Sanders, Editor Over the sixteen years that TMI has presented its annual Awards for Innovation and Excellence, the awards have become an essential validation of the effort, innovation and achievement of banks,...
Introducing the Corporate Recognition and Editor’s Choice Awards 2014
Introducing the Corporate Recognition and Editor’s Choice Awards 2014 by Helen Sanders, Editor While there is strong competition for TMI Awards for banks and vendors, the Corporate Recognition Awards that we have been running for the past nine years are also...
A Partner for Business in UAE
A Partner for Business in UAE by Helen Sanders, Editor, with Alan Kerr, General Manager – Wholesale Banking Group, Dubai & Northern Emirates, and Bhupesh Sharma, Head Mid Corporate Division, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank As one of the most economically dynamic...
The End or the Beginning for Money Market Funds?
The End or the Beginning for Money Market Funds? by Helen Sanders, Editor In August 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States adopted reforms to Rule 2a7 funds (US money market funds – MMFs) with the aim of reducing systemic risk....
A New Beginning for European Payments
A New Beginning for European Payments by Helen Sanders, Editor Now that the SEPA end date has passed, and the additional transition periods that were allowed in some countries have come to an end, many treasurers are now reflecting on their migration experience and...
Rethinking Connectivity
Rethinking Connectivity by Helen Sanders, Editor Among the most important innovations in cash and treasury technology in recent years have been the developments in corporate-to-bank connectivity, not least in the areas of integration, security and accessibility. This...
The Future of Transaction Banking
The Future of Transaction Banking An Executive Roundtable – chaired by Helen Sanders, TMI On 30th June 2014, TMI was pleased to welcome four senior transaction banking executives from major international banks to a roundtable to discuss the future of transaction...
Crossing the SEPA Start Line
Crossing the SEPA Start Line by Helen Sanders, Editor As if the Olympics in 2012 were not enough, the UK is now experiencing the balmy joys of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. But with a lot more tartan. Major sporting events, of which there have been a surfeit recently,...
Against the Odds: Removing Barriers to Optimising Liquidity
Against the Odds: Removing Barriers to Optimising Liquidity by Helen Sanders, Editor At BNP Paribas’ recent Cash Management University (CMU), Vinci Finance International, Holcim Ltd and DFDS each described recent projects that they had undertaken to optimise...
Learning the RMB Game
Learning the RMB Game by Helen Sanders, Editor The weekend that has just passed has reminded me why I am not that interested in sport. In one weekend we have had two Wimbledon finals (which I quite like and sadly had to turn down the opportunity to go to the ladies’...
Are Treasurers Damaging Share Prices?
Are Treasurers Damaging Share Prices? by Helen Sanders, Editor FX losses amongst corporations in 2013 amounted to $17.8bn amongst fewer than 850 international companies. In an environment where sophisticated treasury and risk management systems are more readily...
Exploring the Diverse Landscapes of ASEAN
Exploring the Diverse Landscapes of ASEAN by Helen Sanders, Editor “The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”Marcel Proust Amidst all the hype and fanfare that has greeted China’s economic explosion, ASEAN is quietly...
Leveraging Financing Opportunities for Competitive Advantage
Leveraging Financing Opportunities for Competitive Advantage by Helen Sanders, Editor There can be few business leaders today who do not recognise that securing access to liquidity is critical to business continuity. Indeed, declining or negative free cash flow and...
Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Try UAE
Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Try UAE by Helen Sanders, Editor This month has been significant for a number of reasons. February 2014 sees the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the end date (or should it be start date) of SEPA, and the very last episode of ‘Who Wants To Be a...
Editor's Choice: TMI Corporate Awards for Innovation & Excellence 2013
Editor’s Choice: TMI Corporate Awards for Innovation and Excellence 2013 by Helen Sanders, Editor This is my very favourite time of year, not only because of the excess of Christmas spirit which fills our house, but I also have the privilege of announcing the TMI...
Convergence and Change for Money Market Fund Investment?
Convergence and Change for Money Market Fund Investment? by Helen Sanders, Editor Cash investment continues to be an important priority for treasurers globally. Large corporations in particular continue to build large cash balances while ensuring security and availability...
TMS: Channel for Innovation
TMS: Channel for Innovation by Helen Sanders, Editor Every year, we feature a cover story in TMI on the subject of treasury management technology and every year it becomes more difficult. In some years, speaking frankly, there has not been much that is new to say. This is...
Enhancing Financial and Operational Efficiency with SWIFT: A Middle East Perspective
Enhancing Financial and Operational Efficiency with SWIFT: A Middle East Perspective by Helen Sanders, Editor Corporations headquartered in regions such as North America, Europe and to some extent Asia are familiar with the opportunities that SWIFT offers for efficient,...
Have You Caught the Cash Management Bug?
Have You Caught the Cash Management Bug? by Helen Sanders, Editor One of my favourite ‘snippets’ in the Sunday newspapers is the list of fashions ‘going up’ and those ‘going down’. Sadly, I’ve never heard of most of the designers,...
Review, Reflect and Refine: Treasury in China
Review, Reflect and Refine: Treasury in China by Helen Sanders, Editor There can be few multinational corporations today for which developing their business in China is not a major priority. Many have now reached a ‘tipping point’ where their business in...
Getting Ahead in Treasury
Getting Ahead in Treasury Much has been said about the changing role of treasury in recent years as many treasury professionals expand their remit and engage with a wider range of internal and external counterparts. What has been discussed less regularly is how these...
Taming the Risk Dragon
Taming the Risk Dragon by Helen Sanders, Editor Treasurers globally have prioritised risk management over recent years, adopting a more rigorous approach to identifying, monitoring and managing exposures. In many cases, particularly since the global financial crisis,...
From Commodity to Strategy: A New Era for FX
From Commodity to Strategy: A New Era for FX by Helen Sanders, Editor Foreign exchange undertaken by corporations has often been dismissed as a commoditised product in recent years, with wafer-thin margins and a predominance of electronic trading, particularly for...
Sunshine Through the Clouds? Research findings on progress towards SEPA migration
Sunshine Through the Clouds? Research findings on progress towards SEPA migration by Helen Sanders, Editor The first of February 2014 has become a date that will sit alongside the millenium ‘bug’ on 1 January 2000, euro migration on 1 January 2002, and...
From Regulation to Catalyst for Change: Findings of the SEPA Workshop
From Regulation to Catalyst for Change Findings of the SEPA Workshop by Helen Sanders, Editor One of the best attended workshops during the Cash Management University organised by BNP Paribas was on the topic of SEPA migration, moderated by Richard Delvaux, Director,...
Treasury Barometer 2012-13
Treasury Barometer 2012-13 by Helen Sanders, Editor Participants at the Cash Management University organised by BNP Paribas completed a short survey in advance of the event, with a view to exploring changing trends and behaviours in cash and treasury management. All major...
Shifting Sands of International Trade
by Helen Sanders, Editor One topic we have been exploring recently in TMI is the shift in trading routes between western economies to north-south trade and latterly south-south trade i.e., trade across countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. As is commonly discussed,...
Corporate Innovation & Excellence: Experiences and Insights of the 2013 Editor's Award Winners
Corporate Innovation & Excellence Experiences and Insights of the 2012 Editor’s Award Winners by Helen Sanders, Editor January is a time to look back over the past year and look forward to the next, to consider what lessons can be learnt, how things can...
From Regulation to Catalyst for Change
From Regulation to Catalyst for Change Findings of the SEPA Workshop by Helen Sanders, Editor One of the best attended workshops during the Cash Management University organised by BNP Paribas was on the topic of SEPA migration, moderated by Richard Delvaux,...
Treasury Technology: There's an App for That
Treasury Technology: There’s an App for That by Helen Sanders, Editor Treasury management systems (TMS) have become impressively sophisticated since the early days of telex machines (which I battled with daily) blue screens (which I didn’t understand) and...
Facilitating Japanese Globalisation through SWIFT
Facilitating Japanese Globalisation through SWIFT by Helen Sanders, Editor Japan is in the midst of an economic transformation, as corporations shift from a largely domestic focus to embrace international markets. The global downturn, including recession in Japan, has...
Global Growth Generators: A New Economic Picture for 2050
Global Growth Generators: A New Economic Picture for 2050 by Helen Sanders, Editor In February 2011, Citigroup’s Chief Economist, Willem H. Buiter and Ebrahim Rahbari published a ground-breaking report that argued that the ‘BRIC’ countries, and...
The Treasurer's Voice: Centralising and Optimising Payments
The Treasurer’s Voice: Centralising and Optimising Payments by Helen Sanders, Editor Making payments efficiently, securely and cost-effectively is a priority for every company, but this becomes particularly complex for multinationals with a diverse global supplier...
Shared Services, Shared Success
Shared Services, Shared Success by Helen Sanders, Editor Those based in, or who have visited London this summer will have witnessed remarkable achievements in an amazing diversity of sports. Not only have elite able-bodied athletes continued to redefine standards of...
From London in 2012 to Basel in 2013
From London in 2012 to Basel in 2013 by Helen Sanders, Editor As I write this the day before the Opening Ceremony for the Olympic Games, it is hard to believe the transformation that has occurred in east London and in the venues around the UK in only seven years since...
The Treasurer's Voice: Connectivity
The Treasurer’s Voice: Connectivity by Helen Sanders, Editor In this month’s cover story, ‘From London in 2012 to Basel in 2013’ we highlight the fact that one of the important outcomes of Basel III is the development of relationship banking....
United We Stand: An Interview with Gerard Hartsink, Chairman of the European Payments Council
United We Stand An Interview with Gerard Hartsink, Chairman of the European Payments Council by Helen Sanders, Editor In this edition of TMI, in which we focus on the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), Helen Sanders, Editor, talks to Gerard Hartsink, Chairman of the European...
Climbing the SEPA Mountain
Climbing the SEPA Mountain by Helen Sanders, Editor “Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way.” Dr Seuss As we have seen in this month’s Treasurer’s Voice, there remains a large proportion of companies of all sizes that...
The Treasurer's Voice: SEPA Migration
The Treasurer’s Voice: SEPA Migration by Helen Sanders, Editor We have been very fortunate in this edition of TMI to have interviewed Gerard Hartsink, outgoing Chairman of the European Payments Council (EPC) on his hopes and fears for SEPA, as well as featuring a...
The Treasurer's Voice: RMB Cross-Border Trade Settlement
The Treasurer’s Voice: RMB Cross-Border Trade Settlement by Helen Sanders, Editor While the euro crisis continues unabated, a new currency is quietly emerging. The RMB is continuing its gradual but steady progress from a domestic to an international...
Strategic Financing in Asia
Strategic Financing in Asia by Helen Sanders, Editor Few discussions about the growth of world trade can exclude Asia, particularly China, with reference to both intra-region and global trade patterns. With continued market uncertainty and speculation about the future shape...
The Treasurer's Voice: eBAM
The Treasurer’s Voice: eBAM by Helen Sanders, Editor In this month’s Treasurer’s Voice, conducted jointly by TMI and Treasury Strategies, Inc. we asked treasurers about their opinions and experiences of eBAM (electronic Bank Account Management). The...
Managing Risk in a New Environment
Managing Risk in a New Environment by Helen Sanders, Editor There are few treasury-related articles nowadays that do not stress the importance of liquidity and risk for corporate treasurers. Things have changed, however, since the gritty days of 2008-9, and while...
Certainty of Uncertainty: Changing Investment Approaches
Certainty of Uncertainty: Changing Investment Approaches by Helen Sanders, Editor Deciding on how to invest a company’s surplus cash would appear to be a nice problem to have. In an environment of constrained liquidity, flat growth in many countries and...
The Treasurer's Voice: New Technology & Social Media
The Treasurer’s Voice: New Technology & Social Media by Helen Sanders, Editor With the arrival of the iPad 3 (in time for my birthday, hurrah!) huge expansion of the mobile and tablet market, and frequent reports of the penetration of social media into almost...
The Treasurer's Voice: Centralisation
The Treasurer’s Voice: Centralisation by Helen Sanders, Editor Featuring Filipe Simao, Head of Client Advisory, BNP Paribas and Monie Lindsey, Managing Director, Treasury Strategies Inc. This month’s reader poll focused on centralisation, exploring the degree to...
Trading Out of the Crisis
Trading Out of the Crisis by Helen Sanders, Editor “Colleagues, these are tough times for the world economy and there is no early end in sight. Debt levels and the volatility of financial markets are rising and low growth levels persist. There is a slowdown in...
2011 Corporate Awards for Innovation & Excellence
2011 Corporate Awards for Innovation & Excellence by Helen Sanders, Editor In the last edition of TMI, we announced the 2011 Awards for Innovation and Excellence for banks, consultancies, technology companies and other treasury providers. In this edition, we are...
The Treasurer’s Voice: Bank Relationships
The Treasurer’s Voice: Bank Relationships by Helen Sanders, Editor This article is the first in a new series in TMI, ‘The Treasurer’s Voice’ in collaboration with Treasury Strategies Inc. These articles aim not only to share the views of banks,...
Untapped Potential: Purchase to Pay
Untapped Potential: Purchase to Pay by Helen Sanders, Editor ‘Purchase to pay’ is a phrase that has littered the trade press for a number of years now, referring to the series of processes that take place between the issue of a purchase order, through to...
When Domestic and International Collide
When Domestic and International Collide by Helen Sanders, Editor There has been a long-held perception that, somehow, cash management is different in the United States from anywhere else in the world. It is true that payment instruments are not the same, as cheques are not...
20022 in 2011: The Emergence of a Standard
20022 in 2011: The Emergence of a Standard by Helen Sanders, Editor XML ISO 20022 and the benefits The ISO 20022 standard provides the financial industry with a common platform for the development of messages using standardised XML syntax. Currently, corporates that...
Putting Treasury Objectives into Practice
Putting Treasury Objectives into Practice by Helen Sanders, Editor We have reported extensively in TMI how liquidity and risk management are now firmly established as treasury priorities, with treasurers now taking a more prominent role in their company’s management...
From Alternative to No Alternative Financing
From Alternative to No Alternative Financing by Helen Sanders, Editor We are all aware that most companies are finding it more difficult to access credit from their banks, and that the cost of doing so has increased. Alternative financing, such as factoring and reverse...
Priorities and Perspectives
Priorities and Perspectives by Helen Sanders, Editor According to Jim Owens, former Chairman and CEO of construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, “the competitor that’s best at managing the supply chain is probably going to be the most successful...
A Statistical Approach to Receivables Risk
A Statistical Approach to Receivables Risk by Helen Sanders, Editor The evolution in the role of treasury is a perennial feature in industry conference programmes and seminars. For a number of years now, we have seen a gradual expansion of treasurers’ responsibility...
Delay the Yacht, Get on Board with SEPA
Delay the Yacht, Get on Board with SEPA by Helen Sanders, Editor Sharp-eyed readers, or those suffering from some obsessive compulsive disorder, may remember an article that I wrote last year entitled ‘SEPA: Are we nearly there?’. The year before that, I wrote...
Have Cards Become an Anachronism?
Have Cards Become an Anachronism? by Helen Sanders, Editor Apart from, perhaps, James Bond-style briefcases full of crisp banknotes and pockets full of loose change, few payment methods are as ubiquitous as cards. No longer are cards simply something to keep in...
Taking Responsibility for India's Future
Taking Responsibility for India’s Future by Helen Sanders, Editor Talk of the ‘BRIC’ countries, an acronym much loved during the early noughties, is now all but dead. Indeed, it seems incongruous, even absurd to try to generalise about four...
Home and Away: Making Your Cash Work
Home and Away: Making Your Cash Work Minimising borrowing, particularly for short-term liquidity management, is a priority for most treasurers. During the final roundtable discussion at the Cash Management University, speakers discussed some of the conclusions of the...
Can Treasurers Solve the Global Energy Crisis?
Can Treasurers Solve the Global Energy Crisis? by Helen Sanders, Editor “The world appears to be emerging from the worst economic crisis in decades. Many countries have made commitments under Copenhagen Accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Commitments have also...
Beyond Facebook: Social Media for Professionals
Beyond Facebook:Social Media for professionals by Helen Sanders, Editor Social media is the communications revolution of the twenty-first century. And no, this is not a phrase purloined from a Facebook or Twitter advert. The growth speed of social media outstrips any...
Cash Management in a New World
Cash Management in a New World Introductions Martijn van Steenpaal I work as Treasury Manager for VION Food Group. VION Food Group, headquartered in Eindhoven (the Netherlands), is a global food company that produces high quality foodstuffs and ingredients for people and...
MMFs: A Regulatory Concerto?
MMFs: A Regulatory Concerto? by Helen Sanders, Editor There have been few times in recent decades where the closing weeks of the year have brought such uncertainty and controversy as the dying song of 2010. While the potential fortunes of the euro and risk of contagion...
Are We There Yet? SWIFT Corporate Access 2010
Are We There Yet? SWIFT Corporate Access 2010 by Helen Sanders, Editor Starting this article has strong overtones of déjà vu for me. Every year, around this time, I write an article outlining the progress that has been made towards the adoption of SWIFTNet for...
China: Realising or Inhibiting Potential
China: Realising or Inhibiting Potential by Helen Sanders, Editor Ensuring the safety, integrity and genuineness of products will continue to pose a major challenge for the Chinese government. This month I visited China for the first time in eight or nine months....
Through Rain, Wind & Snow: The Season for Liquidity Management
Through Rain, Wind & Snow: The Season for Liquidity Management by Helen Sanders, Editor You can tell that autumn has arrived: it’s very chilly and it’s pouring with rain. And it’s barely September. This is not a heartening introduction to an...
A Bespoke Approach to Commoditised Products
A Bespoke Approach to Commoditised Products by Helen Sanders, Editor As I sit here with my morning cup of tea and toast, with the radio on, while the rest of the country seems to be out on the beach eating chocolate ice cream and/or drinking flasks of lukewarm coffee,...
Leveraging Opportunities in Latin America: Insights into Cash Management in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico
Leveraging Opportunities in Latin America Insights into Cash Management in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico by Helen Sanders, Editor Five years ago, a great deal of conference talk revolved around the ‘BRIC’ countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China. In...
No More Excuses: Invest, Implement and Innovate
No More Excuses: Invest, Implement and Innovate by Helen Sanders, Editor The past two years have thrown up some popular themes in treasury: manage risk, preserve liquidity, reduce costs and increase efficiency. But there need to be more than platitudes and policy...
Thinking the Unthinkable: A new chapter in FX risk management?
Thinking the Unthinkable: A new chapter in FX risk management by Helen Sanders, Editor Some weeks ago, I came to the realisation that if I had to start another article with the words ‘the financial crisis’ then I would probably go mad, but on this...
SEPA Direct Debits: Opportunity or Opprobrium
by Helen Sanders, Editor The SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) went live on 2 November 2009, representing the next major step towards payments harmonisation across the Eurozone. But was its arrival feted by floods of keen corporations desperate to leverage the new instrument? Did we...
Will the Tiger See RMB Becoming King of the Jungle?
Will the Tiger See RMB Becoming King of the Jungle? Thoughts on RMB cross-border trade settlement by Helen Sanders, Editor Since July 2009, companies with locations across South East Asia have been able to settle cross-border trade transactions with eligible firms in...
Tipping the Balance: present and future for MMFs
Tipping the Balance: present and future for MMFs by Helen Sanders, Editor This month brings Remembrance Day when we think back to the victims of war over the past century. Many war memorials are engraved “Lest we forget”. Today’s conflicts in so many parts...
Sibos Reflections
Sibos Reflections by Helen Sanders, Editor Gold at the end of the rainbow? The last two Sibos conferences have suffered turmoil of different sorts: 2008 saw the collapse of Lehman Brothers on day one, this year saw a typhoon. Somehow, despite climactic events of all...
Shared Service Centres: Driving Positive Change
Shared Service Centres: Driving Positive Change by Helen Sanders, Editor Establishing shared service centres (which to avoid repetitive strain injury, I will refer to as SSCs) for centralising financial activities such as payments and collections is often a desirable...
An Interview with Travis Barker, Chairman, IMMFA
An Interview with Travis Barker, Chairman, IMMFA by Helen Sanders, Editor In March 2009, Travis Barker, Head of Business Development for HSBC’s money market funds business was appointed as Chairman of IMMFA (Institutional Money Market Funds Association). In this...
The Rising Sun of International Treasury in Japan
Japan is typically considered an elusive place to do business, with a highly regulated, perhaps introspective market, and impenetrable traditions and business conventions. However, with Japanese multinationals dominating the electronics sector and increasingly the auto...
Keeping the Liquidity Tap On
Keeping the Liquidity Tap On by Helen Sanders, Editor The liquidity crisis, which indeed it has been, has seen the liquidity tap (faucet) gradually turned off since the summer of 2007. Not only has the flow been reduced, but the cost of liquidity has increased...
Cash Management in a Credit Crisis: A Case Study
Cash Management in a Credit Crisis: A case study by Helen Sanders, Editor Every treasurer has been forced to review how they manage their cash and liquidity since the crisis first struck. In this case study, we use a real-life example of a global insurance company and...
Doing Well by Doing Good
Doing Well by Doing Good by Helen Sanders, Editor While the environmental message can still be heard, it has been drowned by the cacophony of economic laments. Statements of corporate social responsibility (CSR) still appear in the annual reports expressing great deeds...
Picking Up
Picking Up Payments Progress by Helen Sanders, Editor We have talked about the need for greater automation and efficiency in treasury for many years and indeed, a great deal of progress has been made. However, as with many major steps forward, it may take a crisis to act as...
Looking East: The Islamic Alternative?
Looking East: The Islamic Alternative? by Helen Sanders, Editor Introduction As the global financial markets continue to be fragile and uncertain, many people are asking if there is an alternative to the market systems and practices on which we have all relied for so...
Trimming the Sails: the 2009 Risk Agenda
“A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.” Grace Murray Hopper, American military leader, mathematician and educator (1906 – 1992) Trimming the Sails: the 2009 Risk Agenda by Helen Sanders, Editor Nothing we do in life is...
Managing Treasury in a FTSE-100 Company
At the recent IACT (Irish Association of Corporate Treasurers) Conference in Dublin, Antony Barnes, Group Treasurer of Experian plc delivered a presentation on his experiences of running a FTSE 100 treasury function in Dublin. This article is based on the presentation...
Using Financial Supply Chain Management to Support Working Capital at Tech Data Corporation
Using Financial Supply Chain Management to Support Working Capital at Tech Data Corporation by Helen Sanders, Editor Tech Data Corporation is one of the world’s largest distributors of technology products from leading IT hardware and software producers. Since its...
Rowing from the Rocks
“Call on God but row away from the rocks” (Indian Proverb) As I said in my Letter this month, I am not going to begin to try and explain, or even comprehend the economic situation in which we find ourselves. Whatever the background, this downturn is...
The Third Movement in the SWIFT SCORE
The Third Movement in the SWIFT SCORE by Helen Sanders, Editor With market conditions changing daily, treasurers are caught in a whirlwind to ensure the business has the finance it needs, liquidity is maintained and that they have a firm handle on risk. Banks are changing...
Launch of SWIFT Alliance Lite
Launch of SWIFT Alliance Lite An Interview with Elie Lasker, Solution Manager, Corporate Access Programme, SWIFT SWIFT for Corporates has already proved a secure, convenient means for larger corporations to communicate with their banking partners. However, there are many...
Making a Compelling Case to Join SWIFT
Making a Compelling Case to Join SWIFT by Helen Sanders, Editor On Day One of the SWIFT Corporate Forum at Sibos, the key theme was the value proposition of SWIFT for corporates and how to move from decision to implementation. In this summary, we outline the key points from...
SWIFT for Mid-Sized Corporates
SWIFT for Mid-Sized Corporates – A Sibos Review by Helen Sanders, Editor While Sibos 2007 was mostly attended by large, multinational corporates with multiple banking relationships, this year’s event saw a broader spectrum of companies expressing an interest in...
Gathering Together and Scattering Abroad
Gathering Together and Scattering Abroad: A New Season in Banking by Helen Sanders, Editor For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad. Edwin Teale I chose this quote before the collapse of Lehman Bros...
Cancelling your Holiday? Think Again
Forget John Grisham and Jackie Collins – this month’s essential beach reading is all about investment. The period which we are in has frequently been referred to as a time of ‘economic uncertainty’ – no-one knows quite what’s...
Negotiating the RAPIDS
The Intrepid Treasurers’ Guide to Enhancing Return on Equity by Helen Sanders, Editor The credit crunch has dominated the financial headlines for what seems like an eternity. Although it must (surely!) end eventually, in the meantime treasurers are having to hold...
Rapid Returns in Receivables
Rapid Returns in Receivables by Helen Sanders, Editor Those who remember the late 1980s and who also grew up in the United States (I can feel my audience diminishing as I write!) may remember Ken Hakuta, better known as ‘Dr Fad’, TV personality and inventor...
SEPA 2008: Home Run or Own Goal?
January 28 2008 marked one of the most important dates in the history of the European Union. No, not your wife/husband’s birthday, your anniversary, or the day you were meant to take the dog to the vet – although of course, it could be these things too. Did you...
Treasury Technology in 2008
Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway: Treasury Technology in 2008 by Helen Sanders, Editor “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology” – so said astronomer Carl Sagan....
Perspectives - Deborah Thomas - Michael Page Executive
Deborah Thomas Michael Page Executive In the first article in this series, we talk to Deborah Thomas, responsible for senior financial executive recruitment at Michael Page. We ask her the current state of the treasury market and in a competitive environment, how...
Perspectives - Andrew Woods - MD SunGard AvantGard
Andrew Woods Managing Director, Treasury Solutions, SunGard AvantGardAndrew Woods is MCT qualified and has been successful in senior treasury positions in a number of major corporations including Guinness, Kvaerner and Cable & Wireless. In addition to his treasury...
Benchmarking Performance to Create Economic Value
Benchmarking Performance to Create Economic Value by Helen Sanders, Editor If you have already read the series of career interviews in this edition of TMI, you will have noticed a common theme – the profile of treasury, and individual treasury professionals, is...
Perspectives - Ulf Egestrand - President and Managing Director, Scania Finance Korea Ltd
Ulf Egestrand President and Managing Director, Scania Finance Korea Ltd The skills developed in treasury can equip ambitious treasury professionals to move towards a CFO position; there are also wider financial roles within the business which bring the same profile,...
Perspectives - Peter Lohk - Head of Cash Management Sales, Corporate and Institutional Banking, Fokus Bank
Peter Lohk Head of Cash Management Sales, Corporate and Institutional Banking, Fokus Bank Peter Lohk’s career has spanned Norsk Hydro, SEB and Fokus Bank over the past 16 years. While at Norsk Hydro, he gained experience not only in Group Treasury but also as...
Perspectives - Andy Long - Co-President and Chief Financial Officer, Speedo International
Andy Long Co-President and Chief Financial Officer, Speedo International Only a relatively small proportion of professionals who have shaped the treasury activities in their organizations most effectively spend their whole careers in treasury. Indeed, many of those who...
Coins behind the Cushions: Seeking Liquidity within the Enterprise
Coins behind the Cushions: Seeking Liquidity within the Enterprise Helen Sanders, Editor I’m sure most of us are absolutely sick of the terms ‘credit crunch’ or ‘credit crisis’, since they preface virtually ever financial article, so I will do...
2008: Year of the Money Market Fund Portal?
2008: Year of the Money Market Fund Portal? By Helen Sanders, Editor TMI has seen a significant amount of coverage on money market funds (MMFs) over the past two years, coinciding with a period of substantial but steady growth in the use of these instruments amongst...
