Top Innovators In Corporate Finance 2016

HONOREES LIST

Online Collection and Cash Pool Solution in Asia

An online collection and cross-border cash pool solution for Abercrombie & Fitch suggested by DBS Bank enabled A&F to partner with Alipay to successfully set up its e-commerce website in China. To better enhance its cash management capability, A&F set up an e-platform that centralizes its cross-border funds management platform, providing transparency of accounts and letting it manage funds from different countries easily. The cross-border cash-pooling solution proposed by DBS is a centralized cash management center in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone to improve funds’ efficiency by leveraging idle funds within the company.

Cash-Pooling Solution

Al Tayer Group, which operates over 200 stores in the Middle East, carefully chose and implemented a TMS software provider during 2015. Cash visibility was a priority, and they have achieved 100% cash visibility across Al Tayer’s diversified portfolio, which includes several companies and relationship banks. Now it can pool and distribute cash, so that subsidiary accounts maintain a zero balance, minimizing overdraft charges and improving liquidity management. This service is currently limited to the UAE, but Al Tayer plans to implement cross-border pooling shortly.

Global Treasury Center

The Japanese sportswear brand Asics Europe is setting up a global treasury center for strategy, policy, cash management and hedging in Europe as part of its Center of Excellence Initiative to strengthen its global business. Asics’ transformation saw the treasury department become a lean state-of-the-art Treasury organization with segregation of duties for front-, middle- and back office.

Liquidity Management Solution

Its new comprehensive liquidity management solution allows CMA to centralize management of intercompany loans across all its entities. Given that processing each entrustment loan application requires an elaborate procedure, CMA also needed a solution that streamlines the loan process. The DBS Bank’s multiparty entrustment loan solution has helped CMA centralize the process of all entrustment loans made among its subsidiaries. By appointing a lead arranger/master account with respect to the drawdown, rollover, repayment and interest reallocation, it allows the group treasurer to centrally manage the funds across all entities, thereby successfully optimizing returns for the group.

Treasury Management System

When Cargill began its TMS journey, it wanted to ensure it didn’t fail owing to lack of treasury and infotech resources, so it created a treasury center of expertise. The center brings treasury and IT experts together. The TMS team is co-managed by an IT leader and a treasury business leader to continually reinforce the joint importance of the two functions.

Earnings Credit Rate Solution

Last year Coca-Cola introduced an earnings credit rate solution to better use its biggest natural asset: cash. By improving communications between HQ treasury and its shared service centers, Coca-Cola can better leverage its alignment with primary global cash management bank Citi to help eliminate banking fees and make better use of its cash around the globe.

Treasury Management System

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi helped Etihad Airways centralize treasury operations for all its onshore operations in the UAE. Etihad moved to a new TMS, and in 2016 will switch to a new, single-group enterprise resources planning (ERP) system. To allow varying payment-processing models with single access for treasury to approve files and transactions, the final model was built with interfaces, including: SWIFT (FIN and FileAct); host-to-host channel with auto file uploads and a front-end platform for authorizations; and an online portal for single payment instructions.

Governance Risk and Compliance Solution

In 2015, Honeywell upgraded and implemented SAP’s Governance Risk and Compliance Solution (GRC 10.1) to proactively manage regulatory change, meet business needs and direct corporate compliance. This helped Honeywell gain insights for making better decisions by visualizing and predicting how business risks would impact future performance. It also helped to automate manual and repetitive tasks and replace fragmented and immature technologies.

Treasury Transformation

Through strategic recruitment and training and a complete organizational overhaul of eight areas of expertise, Hyundai Capital America’s treasury department has improved both its treasury capabilities and credit profile. In reorganizing the treasury, HCA is building relationships with various external stakeholders, transforming the market perception of HCA from an emerging-markets issuer to an investment-grade issuer and enhancing its credit profile.

Mobile Cash Management Solution

The Raiffeisen Bank International banking app provides full access to the company’s accounts and liquidity, whenever and wherever desired; Julius Meinl can sign payments for the entire Raiffeisen network in Austria or CEE via an Austrian account (or one in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Slovakia or Russia). The company needed to weld two RBI cash management systems into one mobile app to make it possible to cover the domestic market as well as the markets, where Meinl International operates.

CitiDirect BE Tablet System

The CitiDirect tablet system has increased efficiency and improved turnarounds at Kenya Airways. Adopting the system allows Kenya Airways treasury staff to input any transactions the treasury manager might authorize while traveling.

Secure Internet Banking Solution

This Internet-banking-services solution, provided by the Bank of Georgia for Majid Al Futtaim Hypermarkets Georgia, features upgrades in technical specifications, user-friendliness and security. It includes a Digipass for corporate log-in; the ability to set a transaction amount limit; restricted access to create new payments; digital CSV statements; an electronic payment file instantly encrypted, and validation for all payroll, supplier or other payments made by the Bank.

Bank Rationalization

The treasury group at pharmaceutical firm Menarini joined with Italy’s UniCredit to rationalize bank relationships, centralize cash and liquidity management and streamline financial processes in Eastern Europe and Italy. Menarini is working with UniCredit to assess opportunities to expand the cash-pooling solution in CEE and elsewhere in the region, including Russia. The partners are also working to optimize liquidity in other regions around the world. Menarini is also implementing UniCredit’s global electronic banking tool, EuropeanGate.

Point of Sale Systems

Pemex and Santander Mexico have signed an agreement to provide banking services and credit to the 11,000 gas stations in Mexico, to be extended to other banks to be able to provide credit to the gas stations. The agreement will provide Pemex franchisees access to banking services POS systems, referenced deposits, electronic banking, payroll, transfer and management of securities.

Automated Cash Management

The Thai state-owned oil and gas company PTT worked with Siam Commercial Bank to fully automate cash management operations both domestically and internationally. PTT Cash Easy 1.0, the domestic application, focuses on a fully automated payment system and multibank pooling by means of an automated pooling fund from other bank accounts via SWIFT. PTT Cash Easy 2.0, for international payment, facilitates cross-border payment and FX matching confirmation with liquidity management for foreign currencies.

In-House Bank

The Sanofi Group has created an in-house bank, the Sanofi European Treasury Center, deploying a payment factory model across the group entities and geographies with a target of worldwide coverage in more than 60 countries. SETC is centralizing treasury functions via Master Data Management for data quality and governance.

Automated Disbursements

By using Interac e-Transfer via Royal Bank of Canada, Saskatchewan Government Insurance can deliver secure electronic payments cost-effectively. Moving to electronic commercial disbursements, SGI can create system-generated checks, offering a big efficiency gain.

Automated Cash Forecasting System

Royal Dutch Shell has installed a new cash-flow forecasting system for short-term forecasts. The cash flow data is sucked automatically out of all the accounts payable and accounts receivable systems into an SAP HANA database.

Analytics Forecasting Solution

Toyota Financial Services has established an innovative investor analytics suite of tools to ensure that more customers do not default on car payments. The FICO Xpress Optimization Suite and FICO Model Builder enable Toyota Financial Services to bring statistical modeling, forecasting, predictive modeling and optimization into a single framework—enabling rapid simulation of multiple scenarios and then the deployment of an optimal strategy. The implementation divides customers into microsegments based on risk.

Cloud-Based Tax Solution

In 2015, Verizon initiated a tax technology strategy integrating software-as-a-service and enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration in a Cloud-based solution. The mix provides better visibility and derives maximum value from both systems while reducing overall data maintenance costs. Tax Systems will receive interfaces from the Financial Data Warehouse, which is the source of data for SAP, eliminating reconciliations and streamlining tax filings and reporting.

KYC Managed Service and Customer Onboarding Solution

By adopting Thomson Reuters Org ID, Vodafone ensures it can meet its customer due-diligence obligations. Org ID allows Vodafone to manage the KYC (Know Your Customer) demand cycle by providing a secure intermediary for the distribution of KYC documents and opening up the conversation between the KYC requester and Vodafone in regards to what KYC information is actually needed.

Treasury Transformation with FIS SunGard

Volvo has established a state-of-the art payment factory, treasury management system and in-house bank to evolve into a stand-alone corporate rather than a Ford profit center. At the start of 2016, Volvo went live with the FIS SunGard Quantum TMS, and the company has plans to set it up in both China and the US later this year.

TMS Treasury Group

UPS established a treasury systems group at the beginning of its TMS project to help build out requirements and to ensure treasury leadership. The parcel delivery giant has ensured that cross-functionality is built in by talking with departments that overlap with treasury, such as international finance, accounting and the shared services sites that process payments on a large scale.

Cross-Border Preshipment Financing Solution

DBS Bank created a cross-border preshipment financing solution for Tianshan Aluminum, a leading producer of primary aluminum products in China, and part of the XinRen Group. The solution helped to relieve stress on working capital, enhance working capital liquidity and also mitigate credit risk with buyers.

Cloud-Based Data Analytics

Zendesk used Cloud data analytics and forecasting to better manage and plan for growth leading up to and after its IPO, which helped save the company time and kept all levels updated on its growth trajectory. Zendesk offers a Cloud-based customer service software platform and recently became the first customer-service add-in for Microsoft Outlook, so its Cloud-based service could soon help SMEs around the globe.