Stream 4 - Outside in and inside out: Degrees of treasury separation
Chaired by Thomas Dobis, BPO OTC Lead, Hewlett-Packard, Switzerland
As you become more global and complex, you often require more partners to help you cover a broader reach of responsibilities or geographies. Some of these will provide technology; others some form of support or process owning. But in effect all are, to some degree, a form of outsourcing – an unpopular word because of its perceived loss of control. Back in the 1990s, managed services and outsourcing all but disappeared as treasurers failed to dish out fundamental parts of the treasury to third parties and banks. Now outsourcing is making a comeback, but positioned as productive partnering or strategic partnerships, and it can make sense. Whether hiving off the back office functions into the SSC, or taking advantage of technology managed by someone else, this type of outsourcing is freeing up treasury time to take on more value added services.
12:00
Beyond treasury transformation: Taking next steps for business development (Case study)
The most successful supply chain finance programmes are those under-pinned by treasury and procurement business transformation. In this session, this company will showcase how it has already progressed down a full transformation programme, moving to a single ERP, a shared service centre and a global procurement company. Having achieved that, it has now maximised supply chain opportunities by launching a central SCF offering to its global supplier base. This case study will chronicle the steps the company took, with a focus on how it moved SCF from concept to a billion euro supplier solution.
Thomas Light: Principal Finance Manager, Vodafone Procurement Company, Luxembourg
Mark Tweedie: Global Head of Telecoms, Global Transaction Services, Citi, UK
12:40
Lunch
Sponsored by Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets
14:00
Overcoming pain points in the supply chain (Case study)
You’ve set yourself some targets in working capital; they are multi-jurisdictional and you want to see immediate results. You are also well aware that in today’s environment the risks to your supply chain are many. Can you find an automated solution that addresses both these issues, but that offloads the really hard part – convincing your suppliers to be part of the programme? Suppliers too want to know they are getting paid along with cash flow visibility and financing on immediate terms, but they don’t want to deal with any complexity. This company, seeking a customised approach that would access many credit sources, embarked on a multibank platform solution that avoided traditional administrative drags and complicated requirements to onboard suppliers. The solution had speed of implementation and was easily scalable for the future. What are the benefits and what are the costs involved? Listen from both a buyer and supplier perspective about the process.
Peter Davidsson: European Treasury Director, Whirlpool Europe, Switzerland
14:40
Letting go in order to keep treasury strategic (Case study)
After a decade of robust organic growth, Amways worldwide treasury activities were decentralised and in need of an integrated and rationalised approach. Offshoring a significant amount of treasury activities to Costa Rica produced an opportunity to bring in new talent and re-engineer long existing processes. However, deciding the location and responsibilities was no easy task and many challenges were encountered along the way. Today, treasury in Costa Rica is in charge of all cash management activities for corporate and North America businesses, works extensively with over 50 overseas affiliates on cash repatriation, FX trading and back office operations, and is actively involved in other critical activities such as risk management and insurance. In the US, the corporate treasury team has kept strategy and planning responsibilities for treasury technologies, governance, banking partnerships and structures, capital market decisions, risk management, and its biggest challenge: trapped cash. Hear about Amways experience on why offshoring and outsourcing can make perfect sense and the steps taken to get buy-in.
Geoff Carpenter: Vice President and Treasurer, Amway, USA
15:20
Refreshment break
16:00
The challenge of managing liquidity in emerging markets (Case study)
A corporate has several options to optimize its liquidity in emerging markets. Cross-border multicurrency pooling is one of them, but there is usually not a single solution. Essentially it is a complex balancing act between centralized cash optimization, local business requirements and different regulatory frameworks in these markets. Good steering also requires policies regarding dividends (solvency guidelines) and credit risk, as well as agreement on local cash forecasting and practices.
Klaas Springer: Director of Corporate Treasury, Royal FrieslandCampina N.V., The Netherlands
16:40
Moving from poor visibility and local process to future vision (Case study)
What kind of savings and other benefits can be achieved by centralising bank connectivity, a key theme for companies in the past few years? By involving a bureau rather than doing it yourself, you can outsource the complexity of connecting up (the expensive hook-up fees and IT expertise) but still get to rationalise payment traffic by reaching bank partners globally through a single channel. This case study will look at the bureau approach to Swift, but more importantly, the practical steps companies must take to change their internal processes. Swift connectivity can have a huge impact on how cash and treasury management will ultimately be carried out. It will also look at how this route can then simplify SEPA implementation and increase the benefits of the shared service centre model.
Lars Hove-Nielsen: Group Treasurer, Grundfos, Denmark
Markus Hautala: Director, Financial Messaging Services, Tieto, Finland
