COMPLEXCOUNTRIES
Global Treasury intelligence
Treasury & FX in Egypt
To produce our report on Treasury & FX in Egypt we brought together practitioners from the Middle East & Europe who shared their recent experiences with accessing hard currency, local funding, local and international banks, employee dividends, collections, T&E and mobile money.
The peer group discussion was chaired by Arnaud Francq.
This report was produced by Monie Lindsey.
The Key Take Aways appear below. The full report is in the report library.
Treasury Peer Panel : INDIA
Treasury Peer Panels are sessions in which a group of subject matter experts share knowledge, experiences and ideas with a member who brings a specialist treasury challenge to the table.
This session was requested by a member whose company plans to expand its business in India from $100m a year currently to $1bn. This raises a series of questions about how to manage M&A, since part of the growth is expected to be inorganic, as well as how to fund the business, manage working capital, and structure the treasury team and operations.
The peer panel was chaired by Damian Glendinning whose summary appears below.
This report and Key Take Aways (below) was produced by Monie Lindsey
Real Experiences with APIs in Treasury
We were pleased to host two sessions with our peer group members and John Laurens and Mark Troutman from DBS Bank in Singapore. We selected DBS because they are making significant progress in the digital space, and have the good fortune to have recently revamped all their internal systems, making it easier to align them with today’s technology.
The sessions followed on from our technology series, where treasurers agreed we are moving to real-time treasury and instant data – but felt that they did not have the budgets, and were not in a position, to drive this change. According to John Laurens, a large budget is no longer required – and these changes are often coming into the business outside treasury. The discussions were lively: it is possible that they show the path forward.
Time to dust down the inflation tool kit?
In December 2020, The Economist (a weekly newspaper) said ‘a surge in inflation looks unlikely. But it’s worth keeping an eye on’. Six months on, the spectre of inflation is still with us. However, the issue for treasurers isn’t whether high inflation will come back, it’s whether they are ready for it if it does. So is it time to dust down the inflation tool kit?
We polled our peer group of senior treasury professionals from MNCs and found that although treasurers are clearly concerned about inflation, with eighteen per cent currently making impact assessments and eleven per cent believing their treasury is prepared, a majority (53%) of them have not (yet) explored how inflation will impact their treasury operations.
Treasury & FX in Nigeria
The immediate trigger for this call was a recent move by the Nigerian central bank, which devalued the naira and made a move to unify the FX market by eliminating the dual rate system, which provided different official rates according to the use of the funds. The participants in the call welcomed this move, but none was finding it any easier to access foreign currency: the dollar availability is typically a small fraction of the requirement.
This call was chaired by Damian Glendinning whose commentary appears below.
The full report, compiled by Monie Lindsey is available to premium members in our REPORT LIBRARY
If you would like a complimentary copy of this report, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH.
ESG in Treasury Practice
What can treasury do to support ESG initiatives? This report covers the experiences of eight senior treasurers from Europe and the USA who have started the journey. ESG now seems to be very seriously at the board level, with companies prepared to accept reduced financial returns to meet ESG objectives. Some participants are even reviewing business models and calling into question the traditional focus on growth. Many expressed frustration at the lack of generally accepted standards to set targets and measure progress, though, over time, progress is being made.
This report was based on a Treasury Peer call chaired by Damian Glendinning
This report was compiled by Monie Lindsey.
Download the full report FREE here
FX & Treasury in Indonesia
Our Treasury Peer Report on Indonesia, explores the experiences of a small group in a detailed exchange on their current treasury activities. Although Indonesia has a strong commitment to liberal economic policies, it has, over the years, introduced measures designed to protect the local currency (the rupiah, IDR), as well as the financial system. It has a notoriously difficult tax system, and, despite repeated attempts at reform, it continues to perform poorly in the annual perception surveys of Transparency International: it comes in 102nd out of the 180 countries surveyed, with a score of 37/100.
This call was chaired by Damian Glendinning, whose commentary appears below.
This report was compiled by Monie Lindsey – the full report is available to subscribers and premium members in our Report Library or if you would like a complimentary copy, please get in touch quoting ‘Indonesia Report’
CHAIR’S COMMENTARY
Read MoreTreasury & FX in Turkey
The current situation in Turkey has all the hallmarks of the situations treasurers typically face in complex countries: political uncertainty, fast changing regulations, difficulty repatriating cash, FX volatility, high interest rates, liquidity issues, unexpected tax increases, etc, etc. In addition, the country has borders with one of the world’s most volatile regions, and it relies heavily on tourism, with the associated impact from COVID 19.
The report is based on a Treasury Peer Call which took place on 30th March 2021.
The call was expert chaired by Damian Glendinning, whose commentary appears below.
This report was produced by Monie Lindsey
Click here to get updates & find out more about CompleXCountries
Treasury & FX in Taiwan
Our Treasury Peer Report on Taiwan covers the approaches of multinationals to issues such as intercompany netting, cross border sweeping and cash transfers and hedging (onshore and offshore) – see moderators comments below.
The report is based on a Treasury Peer Call which took place on in February 2021 .
The call was expert chaired by Damian Glendinning, whose commentary appears below.
This report was produced by Monie Lindsey
Please get in touch of you would like a FREE copy of the full report
Pricing intercompany loans in China
How do companies price intercompany loans in, and from, China, especially when these are part of a cash pooling arrangement? The main concern here is tax, and participants are finding their tax departments are becoming more involved in this question .
The report is based on a Treasury Peer Call which took place on 13th March 2021.
The call was expert chaired by Damian Glendinning, whose commentary appears below.
This report was produced by Monie Lindsey.
Click here to get updates & find out more about CompleXCountries
CHAIR’S COMMENTARY
China will continue to provide employment to treasurers for a long time to come. As always, cash pooling and cross-border intercompany loans are a good story: it is possible to do most things. But, as usual with China, there are complexities and unresolved issues.
Read More