Risk ManagementTalking Shop
July 19, 2023

Talking Shop: Who Owns Global Workers’ Comp Insurance?

Editor’s note: NeuGroup’s online communities provide members a forum to pose questions and give answers. Talking Shop shares valuable insights from these exchanges, anonymously. Send us your responses: [email protected]. Context: Oversight of insurance—policies for directors and officers, property, cybersecurity, product liability and other risks—is among the responsibilities of many finance organizations in the NeuGroup Network. As for workers’ compensation coverage, one treasurer and NeuGroup member responsible for insurance at his current and former employer said, “my experience is that the department which…
BankingRisk Management
July 13, 2023

Digging Deeper: Finding New Metrics for Counterparty Credit Risk

Treasurers are adding new ways to measure the credit risk posed by their banks, new NeuGroup Peer Research shows. The nearly overnight demise of Silicon Valley Bank jolted many corporate treasurers into taking a hard look at what metrics to include when assessing banks’ creditworthiness. New NeuGroup Peer Research shows many treasury teams are now going beyond the obvious to evaluate their counterparty credit risk. Missing the signs. The urgency of this review and retooling is fueled in part by the realization, in…
BankingCrypto
July 13, 2023

Own Your Own Key: Cutting Out the Crypto Custody Middleman

Why one member set up cryptocurrency self-custody with Fireblocks instead of using a custodian. When El Salvador officially recognized bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, one NeuGroup member company that does business in the country had to act quickly to figure out how to pay or be paid via bitcoin. “If someone wants to pay in bitcoin, we couldn’t say no,” the member said at a recent meeting of NeuGroup for Digital Assets sponsored by Fireblocks. So the treasury team started a focus group to…
Accounting & DisclosureFP&AThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
July 13, 2023

FP&A Drives Finance to a Future of Data and Analytics

Steve Rosvold of CFO.University explores FP&A’s evolving roles and opportunities. At a growing number of NeuGroup member companies, FP&A teams are taking on added importance by becoming a strategic partner of the business, leveraging data analysis skills to provide insights to cross-functional teams across the finance organization. In our newest video, CFO.University founder and chief learning officer Steve Rosvold shares his excitement about FP&A’s expanding role, highlighting how analytical skills can provide finance organizations with a tremendous advantage. Mr. Rosvold foresees FP&A teams playing…
BankingRisk Management
June 28, 2023

SVB Shockwaves: Updating Bank Counterparty Credit Risk Strategy

NeuGroup Research survey results on the repercussions of the SVB collapse for corporates managing risk. The immediate flurry of activity by corporates in the aftermath of Silicon Valley Bank’s first-quarter collapse has subsided. But as the second quarter draws to a close, new NeuGroup Research shows the crisis of confidence ignited by SVB will have long-lasting implications. Preliminary results of the Best Practices in Assessing Bank Counterparty Risk Survey reveal the crisis has triggered a reassessment of bank counterparty credit…
BankingRegional
June 28, 2023

A Mutiny Fizzles, the Challenges Endure for Corporates in Russia

Companies face pressure to reduce bank balances at Raiffeisen Bank, higher bank processing fees and new sanctions. The dramatic showdown that unfolded in Russia over the weekend threatened to further complicate the challenges facing multinationals still operating in the war-torn region amid sanctions and countersanctions. Some are members of the NeuGroup for Russia-Ukraine Crisis working group, including companies that transport food commodities and medical supplies. One member trying to get ahead of the potential fallout from the apparent mutiny requested a session…
Cash & Working CapitalCryptoThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
June 28, 2023

Accept Crypto as Currency? What Airbnb Asked Before Answering

Airbnb treasurer Brian Moore explains, in a video clip, the travel company’s cost-benefit analysis of cryptocurrency. In January 2022, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky received 4,000 responses from Twitter followers after asking for suggestions on what the travel company could launch that year. No. 1 on the list: crypto payments. Flash forward a year and a half, and Airbnb does not accept cryptocurrency from customers or use crypto to pay hosts. At least not yet. In a video clip from a forthcoming Strategic Finance Lab podcast interview,…
BankingCapital MarketsTechnology
June 22, 2023

Best of NeuGroup Insights, First Half of 2023

Technology, the banking crisis and uncertainty about interest rates created challenges and opportunities for treasury, FP&A and other finance teams, reflected in these top-10 posts, which include a podcast and a video. Telling topics. The 10 most popular posts from NeuGroup Insights from the first half of 2023 provide a clear window into how finance teams throughout the Office of the CFO—such as treasury and FP&A—have stepped up this year and managed new, complex risks posed by the banking crisis…
Capital Markets
June 14, 2023

High Rates Boost Allure of Upgrades to Investment Grade Ratings

Companies on the cusp of IG may want to push for an upgrade and sacrifice some flexibility amid higher interest rates. The surge in interest rates to 15-year highs has treasury teams at companies with credit ratings on the brink of investment grade (IG) grappling with an important decision: Should they push to achieve IG status or maintain the financing flexibility of being just below IG—an easier choice when Fed Funds rates were near 0% vs. 5% today. One treasurer…
Banking
June 14, 2023

Finding a Post-M&A Legacy Bank Account Benefit in SVB’s Failure

A multi-beneficiary account opened amid SVB’s demise may help ease future M&A legacy bank account pain. Silicon Valley Bank’s failure in March set off a mad scramble at corporates with funds at the bank, including one NeuGroup member company that found itself exposed to risk from legacy SVB accounts inherited through M&A deals. A solution the company adopted, suggested by one of its main banks, may offer some relief to the pain caused by legacy accounts that many treasury teams…