Articles
24 Sep 2020
News from the VDT
The VDT launched the working group in June to deals with the adaptation of internal and external processes to the digital treasury world. They share some of their findings so far.
View More24 Sep 2020
Communicating in a Virtual World
COVID-19 has certainly impacted the way we communicate from a technical or logistical perspective – I think we’d all agree with that! It has also perhaps raised our awareness around the importance of communications, on a number of different levels.
View More23 Sep 2020
Central Bank Digital Currencies - What is all the fuss?
12 months ago, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) were the topic of think tanks and obscure magazines. These days, not a month goes by without a new headline in the more popular press.
View More22 Sep 2020
Payment Factories - More Up-to-Date Than Ever!
From March to May 2020 the VDT conducted a survey on Payment Factories. The trigger for the survey were the numerous regulatory changes that have had a strong impact on the processing and optimization opportunities in payment processes.
View More22 Sep 2020
Tax Issues Related to Financing and Cash in Times of Crisis
The health crisis linked to the coronavirus epidemic has plunged all countries worldwide into the unknown. Paralyzing a large portion of the population and of companies, the health crisis subsequently gives way to a major economic crisis. Against this backdrop, companies first focused on liquidity. Indeed, with a sudden drop in sales, the cash flow generation slows down or even stops as companies are unable to slow down their cash outflows.
View More22 Sep 2020
The Inevitable Move Towards Further Digitization: on the Road Again!
Different reasons, including the pandemic, are forcing all of us to revisit the finance organization as a whole and to move a step further towards digitization. This is a fantastic opportunity arises for those who will be ready to on-board new technologies and prepared for these changes and… challenges.
View More22 Sep 2020
European Financial Regulation shifting into gear – what will it mean for corporates?
Following an initial period of reflection and public consultation, EU policymakers are now set to launch many of the set pieces of financial regulation for the current legislative mandate. At the same time, the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the economy has motivated policymakers to adjust a number of pieces of securities markets and prudential regulation to ease burdens on investment firms, banks, and companies.
View More25 Jun 2020
Cash and Working Capital Management in the Corona crisis
This article deals with short-term measures to optimise working capital and liquidity management. The strengthening of the supply chain, a currently important measure for many companies, is illustrated by an example from the retail sector.
View More24 Jun 2020
Intragroup Financial Transactions and the Latest OECD Guidelines: Forewarned is Forearmed
For several years, the treasury operations have often been framed in the transfer pricing policy. However, during current survival operations, cash requirements increase and exceptional intragroup cash transactions may take place.
View More24 Jun 2020
Risk Matrix - Tools to Identify and Mitigate Risks
Risk management in corporate treasury is more important than ever! It was and is essential to define risk areas and use scenarios to check what effects the current situation could have on the company to be prepared for appropriate measures.
View More12 Jun 2020
Treasury Insights 2020 - Results of the EACT Survey
200 treasury professionals from across Europe shared their thoughts on treasury’s role and priorities as part of the EACT survey. Although some survey participants responded to the survey before the official lockdown in their respective countries, many companies had already implemented measures such as stopping business travel and moving to home working.
View More27 May 2020
Managing the Working Capital Gap
Managing working capital is essential to every business under normal conditions, but even more so during a crisis.
View More20 May 2020
EACT Award 2020: Revealing the Winner...
We are delighted to announce JTI as the winner of the inaugural EACT Award for the company's innovative data science-led approach to cash flow forecasting. We'd like thank all participants for their entries.
View More12 May 2020
FX Hedging in Volatile Markets
In the fifth article in this special COVID-19 series, Journeys to Treasury partners consider the impact that the combination of constrained liquidity and FX volatility are having on the way that treasurers manage their FX risk.
View More05 May 2020
Cash Flow Forecasting in Uncertain Times
At a time of crisis, senior management focus on cash flow forecasts has never been more acute.
View More28 Apr 2020
Managing Liquidity at a Time of Crisis
Treasurers have stepped up to help restore certainty and confidence in their organisations, and position their organisations for a ‘new normal’ ahead. Taking rapid steps to maintain liquidity across the business has been central to these efforts.
View More28 Apr 2020
Corona and its Effects
The relevance of stringent processes, responsibilities or representation regulations becomes even more important in times of crisis. Verband Deutscher Treasurer present the findings of a working group.
View More27 Apr 2020
Planning Liquidity Requirements during the Covid-19 crisis
During these extraordinary times, it is helpful to consider some of the approaches adopted by those working in banks, insurers and asset managers.
View More27 Apr 2020
Treasury Community Events Summary - April 2020
Presenting a round-up of the very latest news from EACT and its member associations across Europe, including updates on the EACT Cyber Security survey and more.
View More23 Apr 2020
Defence Against Fraud and Cyberattack
At a time of degraded operations and personal anxiety, organisations and individuals are at their most vulnerable, so how can treasurers protect their financial and data assets, and shield their employees, at such a challenging time?
View More17 Apr 2020
Protecting Employees, Protecting the Business
As individuals and companies, we find ourselves in unprecedented circumstances that few, if any, could have foreseen. Business continuity plans have been triggered worldwide, but many of these plans did not anticipate the global reach of COVID-19, or the personal anxieties that we would all face.
View More10 Apr 2020
Implementation of PSD2 in Germany - Centralised Cash Management Systems Continue to Exist
The rapid development of digitalisation, including in payments, required the definition of a framework within the European Union to establish a common basis for electronic payments
View More01 Feb 2020
How are largest European companies managing their financial risks?
The “Handbook of Corporate Financial Risk Management” is primarily directed to Treasurers, CFOs and Risk managers at non-financial corporations and contains 43 real-life case studies, based on over 700 client projects over 14 years. The book covers both financial risk management and optimal capital structure as well as a range of other topics.
View More01 Feb 2020
German eID Initiative
In November 2018, the Deutsche Bundesbank implemented a working group - that included the German Association of Corporate Treasurers (VDT) - with the target to analyse and to provide possible applications of eID in payment transactions and cash management. The report is now available.
View More01 Feb 2020
European treasurers join forces on Instant Payments
At the 2019 EACT Summit, some participants developed the idea to join corporate treasurers across the EACT members for a discussion on Instant Payments. And in June 2019 it took place: the French Association of Corporate Treasurers (AFTE) hosted the exchange on Instant Payments in Paris.
View More01 Feb 2020
Negative elements caused by rates below zero have largely supplanted positive ones
The Central Bank of Sweden has decided to end the experience of negative interest rates. This raises the question, will other Central Banks dare to follow the Swedish?
View More01 Feb 2020
Which EU policy initiatives could and should keep corporate treasurers awake at night in the coming two years?
EU policymakers are in the process of launching an ambitious reform agenda across almost all segments of the regulatory framework for financial services. With all of the inevitable touchpoints this will have for corporate treasurers, it will remain as crucial as ever for treasurers to be a part of the policy dialogue.
View More01 Dec 2019
VDT Treasury Day and General Assembly
On Tuesday, November 12, 2019, around 150 VDT members attended the 2nd VDT Treasury Day to engage with a range of topics, covering everything from education and international regulation to technological developments.
View More01 Dec 2019
Recession Ahead?!
On November 14 and 15, the Dutch Association of Corporate Treasurers (DACT) organized its annual Treasury Fair. With an all-time high attendance of 650 participants and a closing masterclass by dr. Linda Yueh, Fellow in Economics at Oxford University and BBC broadcaster, the Fair was again a huge success.
View More01 Dec 2019
What the new EU policy cycle for 2019-2024 will likely hold in store for financial services and corporate treasury
The two legislative terms (2009-2019) since the financial crisis have seen policymakers, regulators, and supervisors alike focus on implementing a range of post-crisis financial stability reforms, with the objective of reducing market risk, shoring up resilience and addressing conduct risk in financial markets.
View More28 Oct 2019
Changeover in the European Institutions paves way for a more politicised sense of continuity
The coming legislative cycle is likely going to be marked by this dichotomy of a more fractured and more politicised European Parliament on the one hand and a node of relative continuity and stability on the other hand in the European Commission.
View More28 Oct 2019
New methodologies for the determination of EURIBOR and EONIA
On 20 September 2019, the EACT Board members attended a presentation on the EURIBOR and EONIA reforms, two critical benchmarks administered by the European Money Markets Institute (EMMI). The presentation given by Petra De Deyne, Strategic Advisor at EMMI, focused on an overview of the ongoing reforms. EMMI proposes a glance at how far the reforms currently stand.
View More28 Oct 2019
EACT celebrates the 25th anniversary of ATEL
The EACT administrators spent three very busy days from 19 to 21 September 2019 in Luxembourg, with the annual conference of ATEL (the Luxembourg association of corporate treasurers), a visit to several financial institutions (including Luxembourg for finance and the European Investment Bank), and the board meeting of directors of EACT.
View More28 Oct 2019
Cashing in on Trends in Brno: The 8th CEE Treasury Forum
More than 100 delegates from seven countries gathered to share experiences at this year’s CEE Treasury Forum held in Brno, Czech Republic, from 3 October to 5 October.
View More28 Oct 2019
EMIR Refit: how to get benefit from the intercompany reporting exemption?
When EMIR Refit was approved and adopted, the major improvement was the exemption for reporting intercompany derivatives. When two entities belonging to the same group or having similar parent company, out of which at least one is an “NFC” (i.e. Non-Financial Company), they are not obliged anymore to report intragroup derivative transactions.
View More18 Jun 2019
Helmut Schnabel re-elected Chair of IGTA
After holding its last three Annual General Meetings in Europe, members of the International Group of Treasury Associations (IGTA) met in New York. IGTA's 2019 meeting was held on 31 May following the annual conference of the National Association of Corporate Treasurers (NACT).
View More18 Jun 2019
From "pen friendship" to "online dating": Account management in transition
The first symposium of the association of German Treasurer e.V. in 2019 took place on 9 April in Düsseldorf. Almost 100 members gathered at the DUS conference Centre to discuss bank account management.
View More18 Jun 2019
"The Trojan War will not happen"
What if the trade war between China and the United States of America turned into a cold war? Should we be concerned about the rise of China power or simply see it as a natural, peaceful and inevitable evolution or a change that is part of the history and a matter of time?
View More18 Jun 2019
European Parliament elections deliver a fractured political centre
Citizens across Europe elected a new European Parliament (EP) at the end of May with an unprecedented number of new Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) having assumed office in the past weeks. For the first time, the big centre-left (S&D) and centre-right (EPP) blocs no longer have a working majority between the two of them.
View More29 Apr 2019
European Parliament election to significantly alter dynamics during the next legislative mandate
Overall, the make-up of the next EP is likely to be very different to the current chamber, with more fragmentation likely to require more cooperation – and horse-trading in policymaking – between the main pro-European forces in the EP – the centre-left, the centre-right, the Liberals, the Greens – in order to secure stable majorities.
View More29 Apr 2019
Cybersecurity is about risk assessment
Ensuring cyber-risk is part of a necessary approach to risk prevention and regulatory compliance. It follows a classic risk management cycle and is supported by various open source tools. Find out how treasurers can better monitor and manage these risks.
View More29 Apr 2019
Evolution, trading and security issues about cryptocurrencies on the Czech financial market
Digital currency does not have the official currency status according to the Czech legislation. Based on the instructions of the Ministry of Finance, Bitcoins should be registered as stocks of their kind. Despite this legislative view, the Czech Republic belongs to the group of countries where payments through cryptocurrencies are being utilised the most.
View More