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Antony Michels

TechnologyTreasury Management
August 18, 2020

Paying Employees On Demand Brings Both Benefits and Risks to Corporates

The gig economy and the pandemic are boosting interest in pay solutions that may present legal and regulatory issues.The pandemic and the gig economy are prompting traditional employers to explore their options for so-called on-demand pay services that put money in the hands of workers when they need it most. US Bank laid out the benefits and potential complications for corporates of some of these solutions at a recent meeting of the NeuGroup for Retail Treasury. Some basic background: Today’s…
Antony Michels
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BankingCash & Working CapitalTechnology
August 18, 2020

Turning to Kyriba for Payments Helped One Treasury Centralize Operations

The benefits of using one TMS for treasury payments and retiring a homebuilt infrastructure. One member of NeuGroup’s Global Cash and Banking Group recently shared the benefits of using Kyriba as a payment factory that handles about 85% of his company’s treasury payments. The advantages boil down to saving time while improving controls, oversight, visibility and efficiency, he said.Ultimate goal. The treasury director said his company used Kyriba as a tool to achieve the primary goal of centralizing treasury operations…
Antony Michels
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Cash & Working CapitalTechnology
August 13, 2020

DIY: Improved Cash Forecasting and Visibility With In-house Tools

A cash awareness culture results in better forecasting of future flows to support growth.Young tech companies thriving in the latter stages of a multi-year economic expansion when many investors had lots of cash to deploy can be forgiven for not always demonstrating disciplined cash preservation. “We are cash rich and our culture is not sensitive to cash,” as one member put it during a discussion of cash positioning and forecasting at a recent meeting of the Tech20 High Growth Edition.But…
Antony Michels
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BankingCapital MarketsLibor SOFR
August 13, 2020

Life After Libor: Ameribor Holding Its Own as Regulators Back SOFR

Banks already price commercial loans over Ameribor and a term version is in the works. Ameribor, the benchmark alternative interest rate to Libor devised by the American Financial Exchange (AFX), is managing to stay in the conversation despite the endorsement by the Federal Reserve of the secured overnight financing rate (SOFR). Ameribor reflects the unsecured borrowing costs of more than 1,100 American lenders. This week, Citizens Financial Group, one of the nation’s 20 biggest banks, with assets of $177 billion, joined…
Antony Michels
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FXTechnology
August 13, 2020

Automating FX Trades: How Heavy a Lift?

Key takeaways from 360T from a NeuGroup Virtual Interactive Session Earlier this summer, technology provider 360T discussed some of the benefits of automating FX trades at a Virtual Interactive Session for NeuGroup members called “Demystifying Automated Trading Across the Trade Lifecycle.” Following are some takeaways as distilled by 360T about the technology lift involved in automating workflows and trade execution. Although some of the treasurers expressed optimism that automated trading solutions could help improve their FX workflow and execution, there was…
Antony Michels
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BankingTechnology
August 11, 2020

Virtual Accounts Help Treasury and Accounting Bridge Multiple ERPs 

The advantages of using virtual accounts for accounting and reconciliation across ERPs.A member at a recent NeuGroup meeting described his company’s pilot initiatives with its primary transaction banks in Europe to roll out virtual accounts (VAs). Treasury is doing the projects in partnership with accounting which are aimed at reducing the all-in cost of account reconciliation, cash application and account maintenance (estmated by the member at about $4,000 per account) while also improving liquidity access and management. Tangible benefits. The…
Antony Michels
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COVID-19Cyber riskTechnology
August 11, 2020

Cost-Cutting Corporates Need to Factor in ROI of Cybersecurity

Quantifying the value of cyber defenses as some companies look to cut costs amid COVID. Cybersecurity is a major concern for NeuGroup member companies, and the pandemic has forced them to pay more attention to the risks of having so many people in finance roles working from home as the push for accelerated automation and digitalization grows. At the same time, COVID-19 has also pushed companies to tighten their belts. But cutting spending on cyber defenses looks like a potentially costly…
Antony Michels
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Cash & Working CapitalTechnology
August 11, 2020

Exploring Cashforce’s Forecasting Solution, Among Others

Bottoms-up, top-down, ERP or bank statements? During a recent discussion about cash forecasting at NeuGroup’s Global Cash and Banking Group, one member asked if any of her peers had done demos of solutions from Cashforce. Another member said his company had reached the point where Cashforce is “going demo something” once an NDA is in place. “We have found them to be very open-minded,” the member said.That’s important because his company has decided it does not want a forecasting system…
Antony Michels
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ESGSenior Executive
August 6, 2020

Treasury’s Key Role as Corporates Support Black Communities

Treasurers weigh investments, deposits and transactions that will benefit Black communities.Treasury teams within the NeuGroup Network are playing a key role at companies that are stepping up efforts to support Black communities and Black-owned financial institutions. NeuGroup members discussed their initiatives and options at a recent Virtual Interactive Session (VIS) that followed a webinar in which Netflix detailed its commitment to allocate 2% of cash holdings—initially up to $100 million—into financial institutions and organizations that directly support Black communities in the US.Director of…
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ComplianceRisk Management
August 6, 2020

When an Auditor Puts on the Consultant’s Hat

How much and when should internal auditors report about projects outside of their audit plan? Internal audit is increasingly being called upon to get more involved in nontraditional types of engagements—projects that don’t fall within the scope of the audit plan. These might include counsel, advice, facilitation, data analytics and automation. From company to company, managing these projects varies, according to members of NeuGroup’s Internal Auditors’ Peer Group. In a recent virtual discussion with IAPG members, the question was whether they…
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