How one treasurer gives banks in his revolver a share-of-wallet reality check.
Banks that agree to commit capital to a multinational’s revolving credit facility expect treasury to reward them with other, more lucrative work, such as bond underwriting. So treasurers have to deal with complaints when some bankers, inevitably, are not satisfied with their share of the company’s wallet.
Ward off the whining. One large-cap treasurer told members at a recent NeuGroup meeting that his method for managing banker dissatisfaction around share-of-wallet issues is to clearly communicate to each bank what they can—and cannot—expect from his company in terms of banking services.
Five tiers, clear lines. The first two tiers of this member’s five-tier revolver consist of banks that have made the largest capital commitment to the credit facility.
The banks in these tiers can expect to be named active or passive book runners in any of the company’s bond deals and play leading roles in any M&A transactions. They also would conduct interest-rate hedging transactions.
Tiers three, four and five. Banks in the third tier may be named senior co-managers or passive book runners in a capital markets transaction. Banks in the fourth tier might play a role in a bond deal depending on the size of the transaction.
Tier five banks, which commit the least to the revolver, underwrite letters of credit and may be used for FX hedging and cash investments.
The bottom line. The treasurer says the benefit of being explicit about what each bank can expect is that it allows each bank to run its model and get an accurate picture of what it will likely make over the next five years.To help treasurers figure out what banks expect to earn, check out How Much Money Banks Expect to Make to Be in Your Credit Facility.
