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Regional

RegionalRisk Management
April 20, 2023

Russia Pain: OFAC Answers NeuGroup Members’ Sanctions Questions

Compliance officers at the Office of Foreign Assets Control offer insights on bank sanctions and licensing issues.At a meeting this week of NeuGroup’s Russia-Ukraine Crisis working group, a compliance officer from the Office of Foreign Assets Control acknowledged that the significant reduction in unsanctioned banks available to work with multinational corporations in Russia presents obstacles to companies authorized to do business in the country under US and other sanctions regimes, including firms supplying medicines. The session, moderated by NeuGroup senior executive advisor Paul…
Justin Jones
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RegionalTreasury Management
March 9, 2023

Reimagining the Regional Treasury Center’s Strategic Role

Post-pandemic thinking on the role of Asian regional treasury centers, often based in Singapore.By Joseph NeuI was excited to return to Singapore in February for the first time since 2019 to address NeuGroup for Asia Treasury, a group launched in 2011 to connect member companies to this vital region. While much has changed in a dozen years, Asia in 2023 remains crucial for MNC growth plans, so the group’s bridging mission remains more important than ever. When I met with members before…
Justin Jones
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RegionalTechnology
March 2, 2023

How Finance Creates Better Partnerships With Business in Asia

Lessons from finance leaders at NeuGroup meetings in Singapore highlight success factors for business partner roles.By Joseph NeuHow to navigate finance-business partner roles and related activities in Asia—where they really matter—emerged as an underlying theme at NeuGroup meetings in Singapore last week. Here are a few of my takeaways from lively discussions with finance leaders ranging from regional treasurers to CFOs. Translator applications. “We are a translator for global corporate strategy and business conditions in each of the regional markets,” explained…
Justin Jones
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BankingCash & Working CapitalRegional
February 23, 2023

A Year of War, Sadness and Confronting Challenges Together

Finance teams come together to overcome obstacles amid sanctions, countersanctions and the exodus of banks from Russia. By Paul Dalle Molle, NeuGroup Senior Executive Advisor This week’s one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a sad moment, knowing as we do that the war is raging on with no signs of ending. It also reminds us that the conflict really began in 2014 with Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas. It has been almost a decade of…
Justin Jones
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RegionalTreasury Management
January 19, 2023

Girding for Trouble Ahead: A 2023 Crisis Management Playbook

Treasury and finance teams can better prepare for potential disruption and crises by codifying past lessons. Over the last few years, treasuries have faced significant market and geopolitical shocks, including the onset of Covid, the war in Ukraine and extreme global financial market volatility. This year promises to be equally if not more challenging. Respondents to NeuGroup’s 2023 Treasurers’ Agenda Survey listed an economic downturn as their No. 1 risk this year. Financial market volatility was tied with political uncertainty for…
Justin Jones
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RegionalRisk ManagementTreasury Management
December 1, 2022

People, Prices, Places: Internal Auditors Question Hiring Trends

Internal audit hiring insights: India may be growing less attractive; recruiting talent from the Big Four has downsides. Top companies in North America have looked to India as a leading location for shared services centers and to potentially place at least some internal audit (IA) staff. They have also used the Big Four accounting firms essentially as a default source of new team members. Both of those trends may be wearing thin. One member of NeuGroup for Internal Audit Executives discussing his company’s rapid…
Justin Jones
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BankingCash & Working CapitalRegional
November 3, 2022

Sending More Cash Out of China Using Pools in Free Trade Zones

Unpacking a member’s cash pool in China in a free trade zone where window guidance put no limit on cash outflows. Many NeuGroup member companies face a challenge getting cash out of China—in part because of rules limiting outflows from cash pools set up under a so-called nationwide scheme to 50% of the net equity held by a company’s entities in the country. But not all multinationals have this problem. At a recent session of NeuGroup for Global Cash and Banking, one member…
Justin Jones
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RegionalRisk ManagementThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
October 20, 2022

The Importance of Timing When Buying Political Risk Insurance

Laura Burns of WTW explains the benefits of policies that insure losses caused by geopolitical crises in episode nine of NeuGroup’s Strategic Finance Lab podcast. Russia’s escalating war with Ukraine and rising tensions between the US and China are two big reasons why multinational corporations might want to consider buying political risk insurance—in other regions of the world, where it’s not too late to find coverage. To learn what corporates need to know about political risk insurance, hit the play…
Justin Jones
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InsuranceRegionalRisk Management
August 25, 2022

When To Buy Political Risk Insurance—and When It’s Too Late

WTW’s Laura Burns discusses policies that insure losses caused by geopolitical crises not covered by traditional insurance.Companies including McDonalds and ExxonMobil have reported billions in losses from shutting down business and other events related to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Some of that financial pain may have been avoided if corporates had purchased political risk insurance long before the crisis started, according to Laura Burns, who heads the political risk practice for WTW, formerly known as Willis Towers Watson. In a video you can watch…
Justin Jones
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FXRegional
July 14, 2022

Righting the FX Hedging Ship After a Perfect Storm

Lessons learned and changes made after a plunge in JPY reveals cracks in communication and processes. The plunge of the Japanese yen (JPY) this year to its lowest level against the US dollar in more than two decades (see chart) revealed communication problems at one NeuGroup member company between FX risk managers in treasury and the sales team in Japan—problems that could have resulted in a painful financial outcome. Instead, the company’s treasurer came away with valuable lessons for any…
Justin Jones
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