TOMATO CATCH-UP - Newsletter Issue 168 – January 2014

Your monthly resource on working capital, process optimization and issues relating to the world of corporate treasurers, IT professionals and bankers!

Introduction:

At the beginning of each year, many of the publications we review for the newsletter post assessments of the previous year and predictions for the present year. Much less so this year! Does this mean that overall, 2013 was positive and the outlook for 2014 is optimistic? We believe that’s the case. If your organization has SEPA covered, is up to date on EMIR, knows how to deal with the ever-expanding regulations overall, has working capital management in good shape and risk management under control, your year ahead should be a success. Still, if there are lingering issues you need to address, call us so Martin Schneider can identify the best approach to a solution with you.

Your Tomato
Regula Spottl and the Tomato Team

In Today's Issue:

Tomato’s Key Activities in 2013

Banks and Payments: We supported several clients in channeling payment flows to a reduced number of banks. We have been doing this intensely since 2006.

Connecting Bank/ERP: Together with clients from multi-nationals, we increased our knowledge base on connecting ERPs or TMS to various banks’ techniques and were able to support several treasurers in such projects. The ultimate goal is decentralized payment factories with worldwide automated upload of all account payables and receivables. At tomato.ch you find this information in Bankverbindungen weltweit (pdf).
Description of single connection to the house banks with Swift or EBICS and ISO 20022. (pdf…)

SEPA: We assisted and guided clients in many SEPA projects throughout 2013. Our approach: Have clients shift their local bank payments and therefore execute SEPA tests with high-performance transaction banks only. Never before have treasurers had the chance to change or reduce bank relations as within this time frame.
See SEPA – Time to ACT (pdf, pp. 16-18) .

We treated SEPA as a daughter-company and local-IT project (in case the ERP is also local). The group treasury was responsible for monitoring and coaching local staff. See page 14 of our pdf "project steps"…

Liquidity planning: We supported various clients in the reduction of time required to report data to headquarters. That also included direct cash forecasting. See webpage Liquidity Planning (includes cash pooling) or Liquiditätsplanung (deutsch).

Policies and Manuals: Projects involved manuals such as Treasury Policies, IC-Loan-Price-Policies etc. Ask Martin Schneider for a template to renew your financial policies!

EMIR: In the second semester we coordinated and guided treasury personnel through EMIR and SEPA via our Brown Bag Lunches. Are you interested in participating in a Brown Bag Lunch? Contact us!
EMIR information… and EMIR testing…

Training staff in daughter companies in new processes and how to make a Liquidity Plan a useful tool.
The webpages Liquidity Planning (includes cash pooling) or Liquiditätsplanung (deutsch) help local staff to understand forecasting and pooling.

Credit card payment: We guided two corporates in establishing credit card payment processes, something we intensively did for 8 years in telecom billing.

Forming a European Treasury for a Start-Up Corporate headquartered in China. We worked on the project first as interim; then handed over the work to the new global treasurer in Europe.

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SEPA: Kommission verlängert Übergangsfrist um sechs Monate

Pressemitteilung, Brüssel, 9. Januar 2014 - “Einheitlicher Euro-Zahlungsverkehrsraum (SEPA): Kommission will Störungen für Verbraucher und Unternehmen minimieren und verlängert Übergangsfrist um sechs Monate

Die Kommission hat einen Vorschlag angenommen, dem zufolge während eines zusätzlichen Übergangszeitraums von sechs Monaten Zahlungen, die noch nicht im SEPA-Format erfolgen, weiterhin zulässig sind. Dadurch sollen etwaige Risiken von Zahlungsunterbrechungen für Verbraucher und Unternehmen auf ein Mindestmaß begrenzt werden. Die offizielle Frist für die SEPA-Umstellung wird durch diesen Vorschlag nicht geändert (1. Februar 2014).”

English: SEPA Extends Transitions Period by 6 Months - Press Release

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Wir testen EMIR

Die EU-Verordnung über OTC-Derivate EMIR verpflichtet Banken und Kunden zu Begleitmaßnahmen beim Abschluss von OTC-Derivaten. Die Meldepflicht für OTC-Derivate ist 12. Februar 2014. In Tomato’s webpage EMIR finden Sie, wen und was die Regulierung betrifft und was sie beinhaltet.

Wir haben seit kurzem Zugang zu einer Test-Datenbank und testen das System täglich mit verschiedenen Transaktionen sowie upload via CSV und xml. Haben Sie Interesse, Tests auch für Ihre Firma durchzuführen? Wollen wir gemeinsam einen Expertenpool bilden? Wir freuen uns auf Ihr Interesse.
Nehmen Sie Kontakt auf mit Martin Schneider 044 814 2001.

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Ongoing Issues Treasurers Face: Our Tips

In 2005, we started a monthly series “Treasurers’ 5 Items Plan.” The plan offers treasurers and treasury personnel guidelines and explanations to a variety of topics that are pertinent to any treasury department. The topics are as timely as when we first put them together, so we are going to run the series again. First installment:

5 Issues of Concern in the Issuance of a Commercial Paper Program, the Issuance of a Medium-Term Note or the Accomplishment of a Private Placement of a Bond

Choose one of the five largest specialists for CP/MTN as a knowledge transfer consultant.
Additionally, choose a small and independent English or American investment bank as a knowledge transfer consultant.
For a private bond issuance, talk to non-bank specialists who implemented the most innovative financing over the last 12 months, i.e. Unique Airport Zurich.
Settle for a placing bank or institution that is not only known for its issuances, but is also as a power in secondary market placements.
Try not to settle for the largest or cheapest offer, but choose someone who considers you to be more than just an assignment; you should enjoy the status of “significant client.”

Treasurer’s 5 Items Plan…

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Unterschied zwischen Eigenkapitalquote und Kernkapitalquote

Unser Blog im April 2010 behandelte „Eigenkapitalquote vs Kernkapitalquote“. Wir basierten den Blog auf der Radio DRS „“Echo der Zeit” Sendung “Wie aus der Eigenkapitalquote die Kernkapitalquote wurde”. In dieser Sendung beweiste der Rechnungslegungsexperte Kaspar Müller, dass Eigenkapitalquoten viel einfacher zu berechnen sind. Blog...

Das Thema ist heute genau so relevant. Im Artikel „Eigenkapital - Kernkapitalquote - Tier-1-Ratio“ erklärt Marcus Fabian, wie die Bank die Eigenkapitalquote berechnet. Diese Quote sagt jedoch nichts űber das Risiko, das die Bank trägt, aus. Deswegen braucht es „eine Mechanik, die das Risiko der Assets gewichtet - die Kernkapitalquote (Tier-1-Ratio)“, erläutert Fabian. Er zeigt an einem Beispiel auf, wie „die Kernkapitalquote verbessert werden kann, wenn risikoreiche Assets gegen sicherere verkauft werden.“

Fabian warnt jedoch, dass die Banken viel Spielraum haben, „die Kernkapitalquote zu ihren Gunsten zu manipulieren.“ Das resultiert in einer Diskrepanz zwischen der Bewertung der Nationalbank und jener der Banken. Er vergleicht in einer Grafik, wie die Kernkapitalquote der CS von der SNB bewertet wird und wie von der CS selbst.
Artikel „Eigenkapital - Kernkapitalquote - Tier-1-Ratio“ in trader-forum.ch.

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Swiss CFO Day 22.1.14 im Kasino Zug

Das CFO Forum organisiert diese Veranstaltung. Das diesjährige Thema: CFO – PASSION FOR PERFORMANCE! Themen:

Performance Management im globalen Unternehmen
Business Performance and Transparenz – Schaffen Sie wirklich Mehrwert fűr die Linie?
Transformation – hin zur performance-orientierten Finanzorganisation
Performance und Teamwork bei Tempo 1000

Beginn 14.00. 18:30 Dinner und Verleihung Swiss CFO Awards 2014
Informationen und Anmeldung...

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Deloitte Survey of Swiss CFOs 3.Q 2013

Deloitte’s CFO Survey was published in English. This quarterly survey of Chief Financial Officers and Group Finance Directors of major companies based in Switzerland measures “attitudes to valuations, risk and financing, and it is designed to pick up trends and turning points in the Swiss corporate sector.” The 114 participating CFOs are active in a variety of industries. Key findings:

Optimism about the economic outlook
Exchange rate expectations well above the floor
Brighter outlook for companies
Advantageous credit conditions
Doing business in Switzerland is highly attractive

Download the survey… (pdf, 16 pages)

Das CFO-Forum hat im Dezember Newsletter unter dem Titel “CFO-Umfrage 3. Quartal 2013: Goldener Herbst?” die Resultate zusammengefasst. Ausgabe III/13 – 23. Dezember 2013, Seite 4

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Management der Zugriffsrechte

Jede Zugangsberechtigung stellt ein potentielles Risiko für Unternehmen dar. Gesetzliche Anforderungen wie z.B. verschärfte Datenschutzrichtlinien spielen zusätzlich eine wichtige Rolle.

Die Berűcksichtigung von Zugangsberechtigung trägt dazu bei, die IT-Risiken zu verringern und als Konsequenz die strategischen und operativen Risiken zu senken, sagt Thomas große Osterhues, Senior Manager Produktmanagement bei Beta Systems Software AG.

Worauf sollten Unternehmen also bei der Planung, Einführung und Umsetzung eines Access Risk Management Systems achten? Osterhues, Experte in Bereich Identity Access Management & Governance, bietet im Computerworld.ch Artikel „Tipps für intelligenzbasiertes Risikomanagement“ sieben Empfehlungen.

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Publication “Assessing Today’s Regulatory Reality”

This guide, available from GTNews, introduces regulations such as Dodd-Frank, Basel III, FATCA/FBAR, SEPA, EU Financial Transactions Tax and US & EU Money Market Reform. It explains the impact of each one on corporate treasurers as well as required actions to comply or possibilities for mitigating their effects. Download the guide… (registration required, free)

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Mandela’s Leadership Qualities We Can Learn from

Nelson Mandela made a difference in the world through his story and his leadership in the face of adversity. After his death, several Harvard Business School faculty remembered lessons he taught us. Examples of what they learned:

“He exemplified the characteristics of leadership we value most highly: integrity, morality, compassion, and humility”
“…today's complex environment often demands a team approach to problem solving. This requires a leader who, among other things, is comfortable sharing power and generous in doing so, is able to see extraordinary potential in ordinary people, and can make decisions with a balance of idealism and pragmatism…”
Mandela himself recalled how a leader of his tribe talked about leadership: "A leader, he said, is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind."

Details in HBS Faculty Remember Nelson Mandela…

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From the Desk of Regula Spottl, Greensboro, North Carolina

Free Online Education from Prestigious Universities
MOOCs are free university classes online than anyone anywhere can take via the web. MOOC stands for “Massive Open Online Course.” They use traditional course materials such as videos, readings, and problem sets as well as interactive user forums to connect students, professors, and teaching assistants. The three biggest American providers, associated with top universities, are Udacity, Coursera, edX.

This January, 180 MOOCs from major international universities will get underway. Check the list! You may find a class that intrigues you to the extent that you may want to dedicate a few hours a week studying a topic that interests you! I am!

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