Commentary
A new treasury barometer survey for the Asia-Pacific region has been unveiled by SunGard and Bank of America Merrill Lynch at a press event attended by gtnews’ Richard Hartung. He spoke to senior managers at the firms about what they believe the survey reveals about Asian treasurers’ intentions, current set-up and biggest challenges - with cash visibility and yield enhancement high on the priority list.
Blog
The need to identify and update inaccurate records is a constant for corporate treasuries. The requirement to undertake data cleansing to achieve sanctions screening compliance, deliver efficient cash reporting procedures, or just to keep regulators off your back, has received another boost recently, says gtnews contributing editor, David Kelin, because we are now less than a year away from the migration end date for the single euro payments area (SEPA). To achieve compliance corporates need to ensure all their international bank account numbers (IBANs) and bank identifier codes (BICs) in their payments stream are up-to-date.
Blog
‘Treasury is for treasurers, and accounting is for accountants.’ A senior treasurer at a Fortune 20 firm uttered this phrase to me a few years ago, explains gtnews’ contributing editor Kelvin Walton, and it reflects an important truth. The needs and priorities of treasurers and accountants are different. These differences are reflected in the parties’ contrasting requirements for supporting technology with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and treasury management systems (TMS) often their respective chosen tools, but there is a role for both and a balance to be found among these systems.
Blog
The postponement of the launch of the SWIFT electronic bank account management (eBAM) Central Utility has not dampened the enthusiasm for eBAM – at least in some quarters – but it does mean that the lack of a common banking platform will force corporate treasurers to look elsewhere at individual banks, other organisations or technology vendors that are developing their own solutions, says gtnews contributing editor Kelvin Walton.
Blog
In his latest blog gtnews contributing editor, David Kelin, examines the concept of cloud computing, asking what it is, how it can help cash management automation and if its claimed benefits of increased flexibility and control are real or just hot air?
Interview
As he prepares to add an Asia-Pacific remit to his role as chief executive officer (CEO) for SWIFT in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Alain Raes took time out at Sibos 2012 to speak to gtnews about the opportunities he sees for SWIFT to expand its business in the East.
Interview
Using innovation to gain competitive advantage is important for many companies, so gtnews sat down with Unicredit’s head of global innovative trade products, Sebastian Hölker, at Sibos 2012 to hear how he implements the solutions that his team develops.
Interview
Big data was among the hot topics at this year’s Sibos 2012, so gtnews sat down with a trio of technologists from Microsoft for their take on how financial institutions and corporates alike can best leverage big data. Hear from industry solution director Colin Kerr, industry technology strategist for banking, Victor Dossey, and SQL server senior project manager, Sherri Brouwer.
Interview
Back office costs can represent around 20% of bank operating expenditure, and a recent study by McKinsey showed that these costs can be reduced by up to 12% through tactical improvements such as automation and consolidation. gtnews talked with SunGard’s director of project management, Richard Chapman, at Sibos 2012 to find out more about how to achieve savings and efficiencies by moving towards operational maturity.
Blog
As participants headed home after full schedules at the Sibos conference in Osaka, it was time for them to reflect on the key themes, trends and opportunities that were evident over four busy days.
Blog
The final day of Sibos 2012 was marked by a mix of topics, from doing good in banking to using technology better to gain competitive advantage. It was also Japan Day, and a variety of speakers gave updates on the financial services landscape in Japan.
Blog
Sibos powered into its third day and the Corporate Forum its second, with discussions and presentations on how corporates can improve efficiency and risk management in particular. Late-day sessions looked at opportunities for business in Myanmar and the future of mobile payments. gtnews focused on finding the nuggets that will enable corporates to improve their performance.
Blog
The Corporate Forum has opened on the second day of Sibos 2012 in Osaka, Japan. The forum provided a multitude of insights and ideas for corporates on how to increase efficiency and leverage new technology tools. It also looked at how transaction banking can improve its operations as well.
Blog
According to SWIFT, it was on target to have 6,000 attendees descend on Osaka, Japan for the first day of its annual user conference, Sibos, on Monday 29 October, for opening formalities and lively rounds of discussion in the sessions and at exhibitors’ booths. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) took this opportunity to explain how bank payment obligations (BPOs), a new initiative jointly with SWIFT, offer an alternative to letters of credit (L/Cs) and open finance.
Blog
This technology blog examines the common causes of frustration or dissatisfaction with mature treasury management systems (TMS) and asks what can be done to ease the pain?
Blog
The worsening economic situation in the world and on-going eurozone crisis mean that keeping control of your cash as a treasurer has rarely been more important, which is why the opening day of the EuroFinance trade show, running 26-28 September at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, opened with a dedicated conference stream addressing precisely this topic. Alongside the usual welcome speeches, exhibition stands and networking, treasurers got down to the core business of how best to sweat cash, protect it, move it cross-border, and call upon it when needed in tough times.
Commentary
Business intelligence (BI) offers a key opportunity for corporates and financial institutions to gain competitive advantage and optimise fraud prevention, according to multiple speakers at the 3rd annual Financial Services Technology (FST) Media Technology and Innovation conference in Singapore in late August. Looking ahead, avatars using artificial intelligence (AI) may start to service financial institutions’ customers sooner than many expect.