ComplianceRisk Management
November 19, 2020

Right on Target: Tracking Companies’ Changing Risks

One member’s “risk radar” facilitates explaining evolving risks to audit committees. Corporate risk is no easy concept to convey, especially when risks are numerous and shifting in intensity over time. Equally challenging is explaining a risk’s evolving urgency to board members, who must concurrently digest reams of information. Responding to a query about how peers justify urgent audit-plan changes to audit committees, a member of NeuGroup’s Internal Auditors’ Peer Group described the “risk radar” he presents quarterly to illustrate dynamically the…
Capital MarketsTechnology
November 19, 2020

Counterparty Transparency: ‘Looking Through’ Money Market Funds

How a treasury investment manager finds out what assets are owned by the MMFs he owns. For treasury investment managers, visibility into the credit and counterparty risks of their portfolios is essential, especially during times of heightened volatility and uncertainty—like the last nine months. One member of NeuGroup’s Treasury Investment Managers’ Peer Group 2 told peers at a recent meeting sponsored by DWS that part of his assessment of counterparty risk involves “looking through” money market funds (MMFs) to see their…
Capital AllocationCapital MarketsCash & Working Capital
November 17, 2020

Game Plan: Flexible Buybacks on the Open Market vs ASRs

Meeting sponsor SocGen sees corporates growing comfortable with flexible, open market buybacks amid recovery.During the global pandemic, many corporates have slammed the breaks on share repurchase programs to save cash and avoid criticism from politicians as Americans lost jobs and some companies sought government bailouts. At a recent NeuGroup meeting of treasurers at life sciences companies, Societe Generale’s David Getzler, head of equity capital markets for the Americas, forecast an increase in share buybacks in 2021 as the economy recovers and…
BankingLibor SOFR
November 17, 2020

Replacing Libor: No Criticism for Banks That Say ‘No Thanks’ to SOFR

Regulators say banks can price loans using any appropriate reference rate as they prepare for Libor’s end.You may possibly have missed a development that happened three days after the presidential election: US banking regulators gave banks more confidence they can decide to use Libor-replacement rates other than the secured overnight financing rate (SOFR), which the Federal Reserve has endorsed but that some regional banks view as problematic. “Examiners will not criticize banks solely for using a reference rate, including a…
Capital MarketsTalking Shop
November 17, 2020

Talking Shop: Applying the End-User Exception From Dodd-Frank’s Swap Clearing Mandate

Context: In 2013, section 723 of The Dodd-Frank Act went into effect, which required all commercial end users of swaps to submit the swap to a derivatives clearing organization. A so-called “end-user exception” allows parties to claim exemption from the clearing mandate and continue executing uncleared swaps with their dealer counterparties if one of them: Is not a financial entity.Is using the swap to hedge or mitigate commercial risk.Provides certain information to the CFTC, including how it generally meets its…
BankingLibor SOFRRisk Management
November 12, 2020

Mismatched Hedge Risk: Derivative Values May Change as Libor Ends

Standard Chartered, helping corporates prepare for risk-free rates, describes the potential risk of “valuation jump.”The replacement of Libor by risk-free rates (RFRs) like the secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) in the US and the sterling overnight indexed average (SONIA) in the UK has been a hot topic at NeuGroup fall meetings where banks, regulators and other experts have been helping members prepare for Libor’s planned demise at the end of 2021. At a second-half meeting of the Asia Treasurers’ Peer…
COVID-19Technology
November 12, 2020

Retailers Connect With Customers Using Touchless Payments

Smartphone apps, some using QR codes, give customers another way to pay without touching keypads or swiping a card. Members at a recent meeting of NeuGroup for Retail Treasury reported a significant drop in cash transactions since the start of the pandemic, and some are turning to what they’re calling touchless methods of payment to meet consumers’ needs. These innovations depend on using smartphone apps and the internet instead of so-called contactless payments including Apple Pay and Google Pay. Those require a device…
Talking ShopTechnologyUncategorized
November 12, 2020

Talking Shop: Making Interactive Dashboards With Power BI and SQL

Member 1: “I was encouraged to hear that others are using SQL (structured query language) + Power BI tools to automate reporting and develop interactive dashboards. We have been on a journey the last three years to do the same and would welcome a breakout discussion on best practices and forward looking vision for using these tools.”Member 2: “I’d be more than happy to share what we’ve developed and are working on! SQL is a great way to start in BI;…
ESGInvestment Management
November 12, 2020

Navigating Prime Funds and Social Impact Investing

Key takeaways from the Treasury Investment Managers’ Peer Group 2 2020 second-half meeting, sponsored by DWS. By Joseph NeuReclaiming prime funds. Members are still skeptical of prime funds, yet they would not have been sorry had they kept their cash in them through the Covid crisis. Prime funds could be helped going forward by some tweaks to the money market reform regulations concerning gates and fees, plus a pickup in CP issuance next year. However, what prime funds may really need…
NeuGroup News
November 10, 2020

Tech20 Alumni Tell How the Group Helped Them

Alumni Zoom-ins to ‘20 Years of Tech20’ celebration tell the story of peer helping hands. By Joseph Neu. One truly special aspect of last week’s Tech20 Treasurers’ Peer Group 20th Annual Meeting, sponsored by MUFG, was the Alumni cameo Zoom-ins. Former members stopped by to share their favorite Tech20 memory, yet what came through most memorably is how the group helped them while they were members in treasury roles. With the success they were able to show as treasurers, they…