UniCredit in East and West

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UniCredit in East and West
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                          UniCredit in
                         East and West

         F
                   ew companies today can afford to ignore the opportunities for both            for solutions both within and beyond the Eurozone”. He notes that companies of
                   sourcing and sales that China represents, says Jürgen Lutz, Head of Cash      all sizes are feeling the pressure as their migration projects move towards
                   Management Asia Pacific region in UniCredit‘s Shanghai Branch. His            conclusion, and shows how UniCredit partners with key solution providers to
          article, ‘Steps Towards Operational and Financial Efficiency in China’, explores the   deliver the advice, expertise and implementation support that corporates require.,
          role of treasury and finance in facilitating general activities and strategic growth   as well as solutions “to ease the migration process”, such as mandate
          in China, where companies typically set up a separate treasury and finance             management solutions. He itemises the key opportunities that SEPA offers,
          function even though in many cases they are otherwise centralised at either a          including centralisation of payments, collections and cash management,
          global or a regional level. This is largely due to regulatory demands and the fact     standardisation of processes and formats and simplification of accounts and cash
          that RMB is not a fully convertible currency, making the treasury environment in       management structures, noting that larger companies in particular recognise
          the country substantially different from those of Europe and North Africa. Lutz        these opportunities, and that SEPA is proving a catalyst for centralising processes
          describes the challenges and opportunities corporates face here, with bank             into shared service centres (SSCs). In answer to a question from the Editor as to
          relationships posing particular issues as entities in the country have to run a        what he thought treasurers’ priorities would be in a year’s time when SEPA will be
          number of different accounts for specific purposes, some of which must be held         established across the Eurozone, Straussfeld replied that they are likely to be
          with local banks. But as he notes, the faster China moves towards a fully              focusing and consolidating and improving processes and replacing ‘workarounds’
          convertible currency the more companies will be keen to move their regional            that they might have implemented to meet the deadline, with more permanent
          finance headquarters to Mainland China, and UniCredit is excellently placed to         solutions.
          help its clients take advantage of these emerging opportunities.                          Finally to complete this collection of recent UniCredit articles in TMI we have
             Global supply chain finance is the subject of the article by Dr Sebastian Hölker,   an interesting case study from Georg Fischer, a company headquartered in
          UniCredit’s Head of Global Innovative Trade Products, and he sees the date of April    Switzerland that comprises three core businesses; GF Piping Systems, GF
          17 this year as having marked the start of a new era. This was when, at the ICC        Automotive and GF AgieCharmilles. The study is written up by Andreas Müller and
          Banking Commission meeting in Lisbon, the Uniform Rules for Bank Payment               Atul Malhotra, respectively CFO and Head of Procurement at Georg Fischer, and
          Obligation (URBPO) were unanimously agreed. A Bank Payment Obligation (BPO)            describes how the company worked with UniCredit, one of its primary
          is an irrevocable undertaking given by one bank to another concerning payment          relationship banks at a corporate level, to establish a supply chain finance (SCF)
          on a specified date after a pre-agreed event has taken place, and Hölker says that     programme which would offer working capital benefits to GF Automotive and
          this “can be considered as the most promising instrument to bridge the gap             also support the firm’s liquidity position and thus increase the resilience of its
          between the technological and regulatory momentum”, giving supply chain                supply chain. The authors show how the programme was implemented, a process
          finance activities an entirely new perspective and impetus. He describes the           which also involved implementing UniCredit’s SCF platform, which is used by
          working of the BPO in detail, claiming that it could be “the long-desired missing      suppliers to discount their receivables, and they list the main benefits of the
          link” enabling true multi-party supply chain finance solutions to which every          programme both for their own company and for their suppliers. GF Automotive
          player, be it bank or corporate, is able to contribute its own individual strengths.   has now onboarded 20 of its main suppliers, resulting in a 10-15% impact on days
             In an interview by TMI Editor Helen Sanders with Markus Straussfeld, Head of        payable outstanding (DPO) and a positive balance sheet impact. ■
          International Cash Management Sales with UniCredit, Straussfeld reviews the
          progress of SEPA migration to date and explains how SEPA is proving “a catalyst        Robin Page, Chief Executive, TMI

            2        Steps Towards Operational and Financial                                     8      SEPA Migration: Compliance and Catalyst
                     Efficiency in China                                                                for Financial Optimisation
                    Jürgen Lutz, Head of Cash Management Asia Pacific                                   Interview with Markus Straussfeld, Head of International
                    Region,UniCredit S.p.A. Shanghai Branch                                             Cash Management Sales, UniCredit

                     April 17, 2013: The Start of a New Era in                                          Closing the Funding Gap at Georg Fischer
            5        Global Supply Chain Finance?
                                                                                                 10     Automotive
                    Dr Sebastian Hölker, Head of Global Innovative                                      Andreas Müller, Chief Financial Officer, and Atul Malhotra,
                    Trade Products, UniCredit                                                           Head of Procurement, Georg Fischer Automotive
UniCredit in East and West
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                                  Steps Towards Operational and
              UniCredit has
              more than 30
                 years’
                                  Financial Efficiency in China
              experience in
              Asia and we
              have always
                  been
              proactive in
               supporting
                  our
               customers.

                              by Jürgen Lutz, Head of Cash Management Asia Pacific Region,
                              UniCredit S.p.A. Shanghai Branch

                              W
                                         ith China’s position as the world’s second largest   sent from treasury organisations from overseas are surprised
                                         economy firmly established, few companies can        when they first start working in China how different it can
                                         afford to ignore the opportunities for both          be to organise automated day-to-day cash and treas ury
                              sourcing and sales that China represents. UniCredit has         processes in a regulated market. In this article, we offer
                              more than 30 years’ experience in Asia and we have always       some realistic insights into the challenges and opportunities
                              been proactive in supporting our customers in both their        for companies s eeking to enhance their operational and
                              day-to-day and strategic operations. Indeed, many people        financial efficiency.

          2                                                                   Reprinted from TMI         |   www.treasury-management.com
UniCredit in East and West
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                                                                                                                                                  insight

                                                       environment differs substantially from         reporting is becoming a higher priority
                                                       those of Europe and North America.             for local management. Secondly, the
                                                       Despite this, it may still seem surprising     scale and value of companies’ activities
                                                       that so few companies have achieved a          in China have reached a level that senior
                                                       comparable level of operational                management outside China are seeking
                                                       efficiency in China to their treasury          greater visibility over positions and
                                                       operations in other parts of the world.        processes, and greater confidence in the
                                                       After all, the country-wide clearing           quality of the control environment.
                                                       system in China (CNAPS) is efficient and       Finally,     while      the    regulatory
                                                       automated, for the purpose of domestic         environment remains challenging, the
                                                       settlement.       And       for      better    pace and nature of liberalisation are
                                                       interoperability between domestic and          gaining      significant    international
                                                       international clearing system, PBOC has        attention, so there is now a greater
                                                       announced the development of a new             awareness at head office of the
                                                       China International Payment System             opportunities to enhance both
                                                       (CIPS) which aims to overcome manual           operational and financial efficiency.
                                                       overheads between SWIFT and CNAPS                 While the regulatory environment is
                                                       due to local language requirements for         becoming more liberal in China, it is
                                                       RMB cross-border settlement. The               becoming more stringent globally.
                                                       banking sector in China is extensive, with     Senior finance executives therefore need
                                                       a variety of full-service domestic and         the same degree of confidence in
                                                       international       banking       partners.    compliance and controls in their China
                                                       Electronic banking tools are widely            business as in other parts of the world.
                                                       available      from     domestic        and    This is prompting many treasurers and
                                                       international      banks     and     major     finance managers, both in-country and
                                                       technology vendors provide local               at the company’s group treasury, to
                                                       capabilities and support in China.             focus on rolling out the corporate ERP
                                                         There are, however a variety of reasons      and/or TMS to standardise processes and
                                                       why levels of efficiency and automation        reporting, and achieve greater visibility
                                                       amongst corporate treasuries remain low.       over financial positions in China. While
                                                       Many corporations launched their               treasury and finance processes may need
                                                       business in China a number of years ago,       to be adapted to local conditions in
                                                       often on a small scale initially. Legal and    China, a common platform enables a
                                                       regulatory requirements were (and often        consistent approach to control and
                                                       still are) challenging. For example,           reporting and oversight over cash and
                                                       supporting        documentation          for   risk at a global level.
                                                       transactions needed to be submitted to            In addition to implementing internal
                                                       banks, and this remains an obligation for      systems, the need for integrated, secure
                                                       most companies. ERP (enterprise resource       bank connectivity is as compelling in
                                                       planning solutions such as SAP and             China as in any other region to optimise
                                                       Oracle) and TMS (treasury management           payment efficiency and security, to
                                                       systems) were not used extensively in          ensure prompt access to balance and          Secure bank
                                                       China and therefore these systems did          transaction information and enable           connectivity
                                                       not     necessarily      support      local    processes such as cash positioning and
                                                                                                                                                       is as
                                                       instruments. In addition, the initially        reconciliation to be automated. Some
                                                       small scale of some cash and treasury          local banks are not yet in a position to     compelling
                                                       management functions did not justify an        fully understand this integrated             in China as
          The efficiency challenge                     investment in automated systems,               approach and respective communication
                                                                                                                                                   in any other
          Treasury and finance has a major role in     particularly when labour costs were low.       with corporate overseas HQs, but these
          facilitating both day-to-day activities                                                     capabilities are typically an essential       region to
          and strategic growth in every part of the                                                   element of most international banks’           optimise
          world, including China. Although in          Building momentum                              offering in China.
                                                                                                                                                    payment
          many cases, treasury is centralised at       Despite the challenges, both historic and
          either a global or regional level,           current, treasury and finance managers                                                       efficiency
          companies typically set up a separate        are becoming increasingly motivated to         Challenges of
                                                                                                                                                   and security.
          treasury and finance function in China.      improve the automation of their                centralisation
          The primary reason for this is regulatory:   operations and visibility over cash and        While process automation and control
          RMB is not a fully convertible currency,     risk. Firstly, with the increasing cost of     are becoming a little easier, treasury
          and the cash and treasury management         labour, automation of processes and            centralisation and rationalisation of

          Reprinted from TMI            |   www.treasury-management.com                                                                                            3
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                                                                                                                                                  insight

                                  banking       relationships        remain    external financing is often still required.   they will increasingly be able to meet
                                  challenging. Entities in China are obliged   During periods of constrained market          their operational and financial
                                  to maintain a variety of bank accounts       liquidity, it can be difficult to access      efficiency objectives.
                                  for specific purposes, some of which         local financing, so companies need to           There are some opportunities that are
                                  must be held with local banks.               look beyond China for credit. At other        currently available to all companies that
              We fund our         Supporting documentation for cross-          times too, locally-incorporated banks,        may offer considerable benefits. The
              customers in        border trade transactions still needs to     which includes many of the major              most significant of these is RMB cross-
                                  be submitted physically to the banks. On     international banks, need to comply with      border settlement for trade and capital.
                 China
                                  the other hand a pilot programme was         a formal loan-deposit ratio, which ties       The potential to settle international
               through an         launched in July 2012 that aims to           lending closely to the level of deposits.     trade in RMB brings commercial
               integrated         streamline and simplify the need for         UniCredit, operating as a branch, rather      opportunities when dealing with both
                                  supporting documentation. This is            than a locally-incorporated bank, is not      suppliers and customers in China, as
                approach
                                  currently only available to a limited        subject to the loan-deposit ratio, and we     these companies can reduce FX risk.
              between our         number of organisations; however it has      fund our customers in China through an        Furthermore, with an active offshore
              headquarters        the potential to make centralisation         integrated approach between our               RMB market, particularly in Hong Kong
                                  easier once the programme is rolled out      headquarters and operations in China.         and increasingly Singapore and London
                  and
                                  more widely.                                 This is of considerable value to our          among other places, and frequent
              operations in                                                    customers, as we can leverage our             opportunities for companies that both
                 China.                                                        existing relationship and therefore the       source and sell in China to net RMB
                                  Financing the business in                    process of obtaining financing is more        exposures, RMB trade settlement can be
                                  China                                        rapid and straightforward.                    very advantageous. The liberalisation of
                                  Financial efficiency is just as important       To limit the need to borrow externally,    RMB cross-border transactions does not
                                  as operational efficiency, if not more so,   working capital optimisation is a parallel    extend only to trade transactions but
                                  to treasurers and finance managers           priority for treasurers and finance           also to the movement of capital. For
                                  operating in, or responsible for China.      managers of companies domiciled               example, overseas companies can now
                                  For example, financing local entities        outside China. There is a growing             fund their start-ups in China not only in
                                  remains a major priority. The rules for      awareness of this, as it is for example       foreign currency but also in RMB raised
                                  intercompany lending are very tight and      brought in from group treasury as a vital     offshore.
                                  many companies do this through               company policy. It needs also education
                                  bilateral or multilateral entrust loan       of local employees in the importance of
                                  arrangements; however, obtaining             working capital and the ability to            A pragmatic approach to
                                                                               question existing workflows. Efficient        innovation
                                                                               and well-integrated processes and             Some banks are discussing the potential
                                                                               information flows are therefore essential     for treasury centres in Shanghai or
                                                                               in order to ensure visibility and control     Beijing to become regional treasury
                                                                               over working capital.                         centres for Asia Pacific as a whole. There
              Jürgen Lutz
                                                                                                                             are examples amongst the largest
              Head of Cash Management
                                                                                                                             multinational corporations that have
              Asia Pacific Region,                                             Evolving regulation                           had extensive involvement in pilot
              UniCredit S.p.A. Shanghai
                                                                               Regulatory change in China is taking          programmes and other regulatory
              Branch                                                           place steadily, not least due to the          concessions where this is feasible. The
              Jürgen Lutz is a senior cash                                     government’s publicly announced               more and faster China is moving
              management specialist with                                       objective for Shanghai to become an           towards a fully convertible currency, the
              UniCredit and has more than fifteen years’ experience            international finance centre, targeted to     more companies will be attracted to
              in cash management with a profound knowledge of                  be by 2020. Typically, regulatory change      move      their     regional      finance
              client requirements in this area. From 1998 to 2001 he           is introduced through pilot programmes        headquarters to Mainland China. At
              was responsible for cash management sales at                     that involve three or four banks and 15       UniCredit, we are proactive in
              HypoVereinsbank, where he oversaw multinational and
                                                                               or 20 corporations, typically in              understanding our customers’ business,
              institutional clients. From 2001 to 2004 Jürgen was the
              head of a small sales team with focus on insurance               Shanghai or Beijing. As this represents a     and their needs and constraints. We help
              companies and European headquarters of US based                  very small minority of the total              our clients understand the evolving
              corporates. From 2004 to 2009 he focused on the                  commercial population, and it can often       regulatory environment and ensure that
              industrial sectors telecommunication and energy and              take many months before a pilot is            our customers are able to take
              he also took on responsibility for all international cash        expanded universally, most treasurers         advantage of emerging opportunities
              management-activities of mid-sized corporates. In
                                                                               and finance managers cannot benefit           that impact them positively. In some
              2009 he served as the Head of Cash Management Sales
                                                                               immediately          from       emerging      cases, these are strategic developments
              Global Business. Since 2011 he has been the Head of
              Cash Management Asia Pacific Region, located in                  developments. However, these initiatives      that bear fruit over the longer term,
              Shanghai.                                                        demonstrate        the     government’s       while in others we enable improvements
                 Jürgen graduated from the University of Bayreuth in           commitment to market and currency             in day-to-day efficiency and control
              1995 with a degree in Economics.                                 liberalisation, and should give treasurers    that have an immediate benefit to the
                                                                               and finance managers confidence that          business. ■

          4                                                                         Reprinted from TMI             |   www.treasury-management.com
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         Working Capital Optimisation

                    April 17, 2013:
              The Start of a New Era in
            Global Supply Chain Finance?
                            by Dr Sebastian Hölker, Head of Global Innovative Trade Products, UniCredit

                                                                                                                               the word as very often, the delivery of
                                                                                                                               services and goods has already taken place

         R
                  ecently, a German newspaper published an article about innovations in payments.                              whilst the corresponding financial
                  It started with the provocative assertion that whilst we are quite advanced when it                          transaction is far from being completed.
                  comes to the management of transportation, warehousing and the like (RFID chips,                                But do such observations reflect the true
         GPS trackers, real time access on all relevant data), it seems that nothing really significant                        status quo of the interaction between the
         has happened in the last 30 years regarding payments. The parties are still left more or                              physical and financial supply chain?
         less in the dark about a payment’s status while it is being processed and have little or no                           In the last couple of years, technology and
         influence on the exact speed and detail of execution.                                                                 standards have made enormous progress.
                                                                                                                               Reasonably up-to-date supply chain
                                                                                                                               management applications (both for the
                                                                                                                               physical and the financial supply chain) as
                                                                                                                               well as ERP systems have no problems
         One may doubt whether the world truly is so               trade: The physical supply chain and its                    understanding and processing different file
         clearly divided into black and white, but it is           management have currently outrun the                        formats and data structures – with the
         obvious that this is only one of many recent              financial supply chain and the services                     added ability to convert formats and
         examples that all point in the same direction             provided therein. Outrun in this context can                structures and keeping data losses and
         if put into the wider context of international            by all means be read in the literal sense of                truncations to a minimum. Communication

           Fig 1
               Physical
                Supply
                Chain

                           Purchase                                                                                                1 The recipient bank may offer pre-
                                                        Production             Shipment               Delivery                       shipment finance to the exporter based
                            Order
                                                                                                                                     on a PO commitment to pay
                                                                               Invoice
                                                                                                                                   2 The recipient bank may offer post-
                                      PO                                                                                             shipment finance to the exporter based
                                                                                                                                     on approved payables
               Financial
                Supply
                 Chain

                              BPO                                                                                                  3 The obligor bank may offer extended
                                                                       Data                                                          payment terms to the importer
                                          Baseline        1                      2                               3   Payment
                                                                       match

                             Payment                 Irrevocable but                     Irrevocable and
                             obligation                 conditional                            due

         Reprinted from TMI | www.treasury-management.com                                                                                                                     5
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                                                                                                                Working Capital Optimisation

         standards have overcome the barriers             to bridge the gap between the technological         BAFT-IFSA definitions on open account trade
         between different industries – in particular,    and regulatory momentum and give supply             finance – as “a combination of technology
         the SWIFT MT 789 has facilitated the             chain finance activities a completely new           and services that link buyers, sellers, and
         corporate-to-bank and the bank-to-               momentum.                                           finance providers to facilitate financing
         corporate communication quite significantly.                                                         during the life cycle of the Open Account
         Thanks to this recent progress both in           How so?                                             trade transaction and repayment”.
         technology and standard setting, the stage is    It is undisputed that today more than ever,            “Cooperative”      in    this    context
         set for the financial supply chain to catch up   corporate customers are asking for                  acknowledges the fact that corporates have
         and match speed with the physical supply         cooperative supply chain finance solutions.         fully understood that they benefit most if
         chain.                                           Supply chain finance in this context is not         each party in the value chain contributes
            On the other hand and as a consequence        limited to the notion of so-called reverse          what it is most suited to provide – not only
         of the global financial crisis in 2007/08,       factoring programmes, but - in line with the        in terms of the goods and services offered,
         national and supranational regulators have
         tightened the regulatory framework
         especially for banking activities; impacting
         also neighbouring areas like factoring and
         credit insurance. So, whereas financial
         services could significantly pick up speed
         where pure technology, processing and
         service is concerned, activities have been
         slowed down especially in the international              Corporates have fully understood that they benefit most if
         arena as soon as financing components                    each party in the value chain contributes what it is most
         come into play. It is no coincidence that                                    suited to provide.
         the supply chain finance industry still lacks
         standardised and easy-to-use multi-entity
         solutions that span the world. From the
         corporate perspective, it is hardly
         acceptable that bankers become very
         evasive when asked about a truly
         harmonised, worldwide supply chain finance
         solution. Given the current regulatory             Fig 2 - "4 corner" interoperable    model model
                                                                                 "4 corner" interoperable
         framework, however, it becomes evident
         that banks will have to cope more and more
         with      local,   un-standardised       laws,
         regulations and reporting standards – in
         terms of both providing liquidity and                                                                                  Seller’s
         complying with KYC / sanctions                                       Seller
                                                                                                                                 Bank
         requirements. Does this mean that
         corporates have no chance but to be locked
         into fully proprietary banking solutions?
                                                                           Trade contract

                                                                                                                                          Multi-bank
                                                                                                                                          standards

         Approval of the URBPO
                                                                                            Seller works with own
         At the ICC Banking Commission meeting
                                                                                                    bank
         held in Lisbon on April 17 this year, the
         URBPO (Uniform Rules for Bank Payment
         Obligation) were approved with no country
         voting against their adoption. A Bank
         Payment Obligation (BPO) is an irrevocable
         undertaking given by one bank to another
                                                                                                                                Buyer’s
         bank that it will pay on a specified date                           Buyer
                                                                                                                                 Bank
         after a pre-agreed event has taken place.
         This event is evidenced by an automated
         matching of data in a so-called Transaction
         Matching Application.
            This straight forward concept can be                                                         Source: Swift, A New Start for Supply Chain Finance, 2013
                                                                      Source: Swift, A New Start for Supply Chain Finance, 2013
         considered as the most promising instrument

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         Working Capital Optimisation

         but also with regard to their role in            much earlier as the examples of evidencing        model, the cross-border part of the supply
         financing the whole value chain.                 production start, production end, dispatch        chain finance programme takes place
            Thus, large and well-rated buyers no          and the like show. In this context, the BPO       exclusively between the banks. Neither of
         longer leave their suppliers alone in their      offers great flexibility; the parties can agree   the corporates is concerned with the
         efforts to acquire reliable and affordable       quite freely upon which event the BPO shall       implications of cross-border finance
         funding. These companies are willing to          switch from a conditional to an                   activities that I described earlier.
         contribute by enhancing their suppliers’         unconditional obligation to pay.                      The advent of the BPO could be the long-
         financing options. In the most typical case         Equipped with this knowledge, the              desired missing link that enables true multi-
         this happens by approving invoices, but also     supplier can agree with his local bank on         party supply chain finance solutions in
         by giving payment commitments if certain         various financing options: Either he uses the     which every player – regardless of whether
         pre-requisites are met, e.g., the production     BPO as a credit enhancement for simple            it’s a bank or a corporate – can contribute
         or the shipping of goods has been evidenced      working capital lines or he sells his BPO-        by concentrating on its local, well-
         in a pre-agreed way.                             supported trade receivables to his local bank     established strengths. Still, important
                                                          – enabling it to offer attractive pricing as      questions remain unanswered (especially the
         The BPO kicks in                                 the BPO completely eliminates any supplier-       acceptance of a risk-adequate capital
         Instead of letting one bank or financial         related risk:                                     treatment of the BPO by the regulators).
         institution take care of a complex, multi-          Whilst not far away from traditional           Given the current activity on these matters
         party international supply chain end-to-end,     supply chain finance offers, the beauty of        and the attention the BPO has in the finance
         the BPO enables banks to cooperate in a way      this concept is that each party (both             industry, though, chances are good that
         that each party of the supply chain can be       corporate and bank) acts locally- profiting       answers to the open questions will be found
         serviced by the bank that is suited best for     from its local footprint and experience in        quickly.
         this task: Its local bank – ideally equipped     regulatory and legal, but also service-related        So, it is not unlikely that April 17, 2013
         with a longstanding track record and deep        matters.                                          will be remembered as the dawn of a new
         knowledge of its local client’s business            In this so-called four-corner interoperable    era in global supply chain finance. ■
         needs.
            And this is how it works in practice: So
         far, a supplier who wishes to join a supply
         chain finance programme will conclude an
         agreement with the buyer’s bank. The
         buyer’s bank typically is located in a country
         foreign to the supplier. He thus has no
         choice but to use the terms and conditions,
         the technical infrastructure, sometimes the             With the BPO, however, the buyer can agree with his local
         language of a foreign bank. He will also have          bank at what stage in the value chain he is willing and ready
         to comply with the foreign bank’s KYC - and                               to undertake payment.
         other regulatory requirements that in many
         cases significantly differ from the standards
         he is familiar with.
            Also the buyer’s bank has many
         challenges to overcome with the foreign
         supplier: Not only has it to make sure that it
         complies with compulsive laws and
         regulations of the supplier’s country, but –
         and that is even more of an impediment – it                           Dr. Sebastian Hölker
         has to provide complete customer service to                           Head of Global Innovative Trade Products, UniCredit
         a typically small corporate that is not
                                                                              Sebastian is responsible for Global Trade & Supply Chain Finance
         located anywhere in the buyer’s bank’s                               Innovative Products in Global Transaction Banking at UniCredit. He
         network. Many large multinational supply                             oversees the management, innovation and further development of
         chain programmes that have started                                   innovative trade products offered by UniCredit worldwide.
         promisingly have failed because of these            Additionally, he is responsible for structuring deals for trade and supply chain finance
         seemingly trivial aspects.                          products in Germany and selected European countries. Before taking over this role,
            With the BPO, however, the buyer can             Sebastian led various national and international supply chain finance implementation
         agree with his local bank at what stage in          projects within GTB, where he contributed to the structuring, implementation and
         the value chain he is willing and ready to          marketing of integrated SCF solutions. Prior to working in the banking sector,
         undertake payment. This can – as in the             Sebastian was a solicitor in an English law firm and an in-house lawyer with a fund-
         traditional approach – be after approval of         initiator.
         the supplier’s invoice, but it can also be

         Reprinted from TMI | www.treasury-management.com                                                                                               7
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              Companies
                 are at
               different
               stages in
              their SEPA
              migration
               projects,
                 and
              inevitably,
               some are
                 better
               prepared
              than others.

                             SEPA Migration:
                             Compliance and Catalyst
                             for Financial Optimisation
                             An Executive Interview with Markus Straussfeld, Head of International Cash
                             Management Sales, UniCredit Bank AG

                                                                                        With only a few months now remaining until
                                                                                        the SEPA deadline, how far have corporate

                                    W
                                                hile it may appear that SEPA
                                                dominates the treasury media as we      treasurers and finance managers progressed
                                                lead up to the final migration          towards migration?
                                    deadline to SEPA, treasurers and finance            Companies are at different stages in their SEPA migration projects,
                                    managers have different levels of awareness         and inevitably, some are better prepared than others. Some still
                                    about its implications and the opportunities that   underestimate the scale of the project and have not yet prioritised
                                    SEPA is creating. In this Executive Interview,      SEPA migration, and this is clearly a cause for concern. Mid-cap
                                    Markus Straussfeld reviews progress to date, and    companies in particular may be less familiar with the nature and
                                    how SEPA is proving a catalyst for new solutions    scope of SEPA than their larger peers: in some cases, for example, we
                                    both within and beyond the Eurozone.                have found that finance managers were not aware that SEPA applied
                                                                                        to domestic as well as cross-border transactions.

          8                                                                  Reprinted from TMI      |   www.treasury-management.com
TMI218 Unicredit RP4 P8-9 218_Layout 1 16/08/2013 12:06 Page 9

                                                                                                               executive interview

             Companies of all sizes are feeling the        structures. These are already familiar in      counterparty for Europe, particularly
          pressure, however, and treasurers are            countries such as United Kingdom and we        Germany, we have invested significantly in
          seeking clarity on what needs to be done to      are now seeing greater adoption in             our capabilities, and collaborated with
          meet the deadline and to find out the ways       Germany to facilitate automated                other banks and SWIFT, so that our
          in which we can support them and alleviate       reconciliation and posting of collections. A   customers can integrate Russia into a
          pain points. This includes seeking our           virtual account number is held on each         wider cash management framework. As a
          advice, expertise and implementation             customer record so that although               result, customers can now include Russia
          support, but also solutions to ease the          collections are received into a single         into physical cross-border cash pools and
          migration process, such as mandate               account, the virtual account number, which     also use MT101 messages for initiating
          management solutions, so we partner with         is included in the remittance data, can then   payments. These are valuable initiatives in
          key solution providers to deliver this. SEPA     be matched with the customer record. This      supporting greater centralisation and
          Direct Debit (SDD) implementation is             allows the convenience of a single account,    standardisation, but also making better use
          particularly challenging, especially for         but permits a high level of automation, so     of liquidity.
          companies with a large volume of direct          amounts can be reconciled and posted             This type of initiative is not restricted to
          debits under existing domestic schemes.          promptly to customer accounts. This            Russia: we are also engaged in collaborative
          SDD is less mature than SEPA Credit              enhances working capital management by         efforts to enhance opportunities for cash
          Transfers (SCT) and there is a lack of clarity   reducing days sales outstanding (DSO), frees   and liquidity management in countries such
          over legal and operational issues such as        up customer credit limits more quickly and     as Ukraine, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria
          mandate management and handling,                 reduces the administrative burden              with considerable success.
          particularly when converting from well-          considerably.
          established local schemes such as in
          Netherlands, Austria etc. The final format                                                      By this time next year, SEPA
          specifications for SDD hav not yet been          For what other innovations                     will be established across the
          released by CGI (Common Global                   is SEPA a catalyst?                            Eurozone: what do you think
          Implementation) Group which is adding to         One of the most significant opportunities      treasurers’ priorities will be a
          the pressure on corporates as the 1              that SEPA has opened up is the ability to      year from now?
          February 2014 deadline approaches.               standardise the format of information that     Once treasurers have achieved SEPA
                                                           is    exchanged      between       financial   compliance and crossed the migration
                                                           counterparties. SEPA payment methods use       deadline, they are likely to be focused on
          To what extent have                              XML-based formats (ISO 20022) which is         consolidating and improving processes and
          companies been able to                           emerging as a global standard, not only for    replacing workarounds that they may have
          leverage the benefits of                         payments, but other financial messages         implemented to meet the deadline with
          SEPA so far, in addition to                      too. At UniCredit, we see this as major        more permanent solutions. We also see
          focusing on migration?                           opportunity for banks and corporates alike,    companies looking beyond the Eurozone to
          Centralisation of payments, collections and      so supporting XML messaging is a priority      determine how a centralised and more
          cash management, standardisation of              for us. By standardising financial             efficient infrastructure can be leveraged to
          processes and formats, and simplification of     messaging not just regionally but globally,    optimise their payments, collections, cash
          accounts and cash management structures          companies can rationalise their systems        management and liquidity management in
          are amongst the key opportunities that           and the range of formats they need to          other regions and currencies. While
          SEPA offers. Larger companies in particular      support, interfacing with bank services is     treasurers have focused on SEPA, they may
          recognise this, and SEPA is proving a            more straightforward. Reporting can be         not have been aware of some of the other          Customers
          catalyst for centralising processes into         produced consistently from different bank      opportunities that have emerged in recent
                                                                                                                                                             can now
          shared service centres which permits further     systems and integrated into the ERP or         year that have the potential to enhance not
          efficiencies, such as implementing               TMS in a consistent way, so decisions can      only their operations in the Eurozone but          include
          consistent payment and authorisation             be made based on complete and                  more      widely.     Understanding      and        Russia
          controls and automating processes. The           trustworthy information and processes          implementing these techniques could bring        into physical
          challenge, however, is how to both ensure        such as reconciliation automated more          considerable benefits. For example, we now
          compliance and implement the benefits of         fully. XML is also opening up new              offer cross-currency, cross-border notional
                                                                                                                                                           cross-border
          SEPA given the shrinking timescales. While       opportunities in financial messaging. For      pooling from Germany. In the past, cross-         cash pools
          compliance must be achieved by the               example, camt.086 offers a consistent view     currency pools are typically located in              and
          February 2014 deadline, companies can            over bank fees so that these can be            Netherlands or United Kingdom, which is
                                                                                                                                                             also use
          continue to implement efficiencies and take      compared and reconciled more easily.           not necessarily attractive if a company does
          advantage of the resulting opportunities            We work with customers to implement         not have significant financial operations in       MT101
          beyond this date. Consequently, many             XML formats in both SEPA and non-SEPA          these locations. Furthermore, as the             messages for
          companies still have a mix of local and          countries, and convert messages into local     extended period of economic uncertainty           initiating
          centralised activities and the process of        formats where necessary. For example, it       continues, many companies see the benefits
                                                                                                                                                            payments.
          centralisation and optimisation will be a        has been difficult in the past to              of working with UniCredit Bank AG which
          gradual one.                                     incorporate Russia into a regional or global   is highly-rated with a remarkable core tier 1
            A valuable opportunity that SEPA opens         payments and cash management                   ratio >18 % and reliably headquartered in a
          up is the introduction of virtual account        infrastructure. As Russia is a major trading   stable economy. ■

          Reprinted from TMI               |   www.treasury-management.com                                                                                                 9
TMI218 Unicredit RP5 P10-1 Germ_Layout 1 15/08/2013 15:38 Page 10

                                                                         A Treasurer's Guide to Corporate Treasury in Germany 2013

                Closing the Funding
                Gap at Georg Fischer
                    Automotive
                                                           A UniCredit Case Study

                        by Andreas Müller, Chief Financial Officer, and Atul Malhotra, Head of Procurement,
                                                                     Georg Fischer Automotive

         L
               ike many organisations, Georg Fischer Automotive, one of the
               three core businesses in the Georg Fischer group, was                         Georg Fischer
               experiencing working capital challenges caused by the timing
                                                                                             Georg Fischer comprises three core businesses: GF Piping
         mismatch between customer collections and supplier payments. To
                                                                                             Systems, GF Automotive, and GF AgieCharmilles. Founded in
         address this, Georg Fischer Automotive made the decision to implement
                                                                                             1802, the corporation is headquartered in Switzerland and has
         a supply chain finance programme with UniCredit. This article outlines
                                                                                             125 companies, 48 of them production facilities, in 30
         some of their experiences and the outcomes of implementing the                      countries. Its approximately 13,500 employees generated sales
         programme so far.                                                                   of CHF 3.6bn in 2012.

         Working capital challenges
         Although the Georg Fischer is made up of three core business divisions,          benefits to Georg Fischer Automotive, but also support our suppliers’
         treasury is managed at a corporate level and manages the cash, treasury          liquidity position, and therefore increase the resilience of our supply
         and risk management requirements of the group as a whole. Specific               chain (figure 1). A number of banks had approached us to offer a SCF
         divisional needs are managed by the divisional CFO, supported by treasury.       programme, but ultimately we made the decision to appoint UniCredit,
            One of Georg Fischer’s most significant treasury challenges is to             one of our primary relationship banks at a corporate level, based on the
         manage working capital effectively. Before implementing the supply chain         quality of our existing relationship. As an early adopter of SCF
         finance programme, there was significant divergence between inflows and          programmes, we recognised the potential to shape the way in which
         outflows with a timing gap of 20-25%, which was expensive to finance.            our programme operated.
         Consequently, our aim was to narrow this gap as far as possible. In
         addition, the 2008-9 crisis encouraged the group to optimise its net
         working capital, including suppliers, inventory and customers. One of the
                                                                                          Implementing the programme
         outcomes of this was to renegotiate payment terms wherever possible,             We worked with UniCredit to identify initial target suppliers. These
         but this was not sufficient in itself to resolve the funding gap, not least as   were our key suppliers with which we do business regularly, with
         many of our suppliers were experiencing similar liquidity challenges.            whom we had a long-standing relationship, and which amounted to
                                                                                          around 35% of our total creditor volumes. We embarked on the
                                                                                          project in February 2012, and commenced an onboarding process for
         The decision for supply chain finance                                            these key suppliers. As many of these companies were not familiar
         We therefore made the decision to establish a supply chain finance               with SCF, we spent considerable time explaining the way in which
         (SCF) programme, recognising that it would offer working capital                 the programme would operate, the benefits, and the terms and

         10                                                                          Reprinted from TMI | www.treasury-management.com
TMI218 Unicredit RP5 P10-1 Germ_Layout 1 15/08/2013 15:38 Page 11

         A Treasurer's Guide to Corporate Treasury in Germany 2013

         conditions, which then enabled them to
         decide whether or not to participate. In           Figure 1 - Benefits of Georg Fischer Automotive’s
         some cases, companies already participated         Supply Chain Finance Programme
         in similar programmes, while others,
         particularly larger suppliers, decided not to
         participate as they were able to source                         BUYER                                                  SUPPLIER
         finance more competitively, or for balance
         sheet reasons; however, overall there was                   Uploads confirmed
                                                                                                                                Receives indicative
                                                                 1   invoices and credit             Trade                  2   purchase price for the
         widespread acceptance of the programme.                                                    Purchase                    receivables
                                                                     notes
            The project also involved implementing                                                  Platform
                                                                                                                                Offer to sell selected
         UniCredit’s SCF platform, which is used by                                                                         3   receivables
         suppliers to discount their receivables. We put
         in place a process where suppliers send invoices
         to Georg Fischer Automotive, which are then                                                                        4   True sale of
         approved and passed to the SCF platform, at                                                                            receivables and
                                                                 5   Pays at maturity
                                                                                                                                immediate payment
         which point suppliers can choose to discount
         invoices as required. The processes and
         technology were easy to implement,
         particularly as we had already centralised our       For Georg Fischer Automotive                 For suppliers
         accounting and payments processing in a
         shared service centre (SSC).                        ●   Extend days payable outstanding           ●   Obtain access to financing at
                                                                 (DPO)                                         competitive rates
                                                             ●   Address the timing mismatch               ●   Improve days sales outstanding (DSO)
         Project outcomes                                        between customer collections and              and free up customer credit line with
         We have now onboarded 20% of our main                   supplier payments                             Georg Fischer Automotive more
         suppliers, resulting in a 10-15% impact on          ●   Reduce working capital financing              quickly
         our days payable outstanding (DPO) and a                costs                                     ●   Avoid the use of credit lines for
         positive balance sheet impact. The                  ●   Increase supply chain resilience              working capital financing
         programme is now being extended to a wider              through a more stable supplier base       ●   Gain greater predictability of cash
         group of suppliers, which we anticipate will        ●   Improve negotiating terms                     flow for enhanced cash positioning
         cover about 50% of our total creditors                                                                and forecasting
         volume. While we had hoped to onboard                For both
         suppliers more quickly, the time taken to           ●   Strengthening relationships
         educate suppliers cannot be underestimated.
         The competitiveness of the SCF programme is
         essential to its success, which requires
         dialogue between the purchaser, suppliers
         and the SCF bank.                                                     Andreas Müller
            The successful introduction of the SCF                             Chief Financial Officer, Georg Fischer Automotive
         programme at Georg Fischer Automotive is
         an important means for us to continue                               Andreas Müller has been the CFO of Georg Fischer Automotive for
         closing our funding gap and optimising                              the past five years and is in charge of Finance, Controlling and IT of
                                                                             the entire Automotive Division. He has 17 years of professional
         liquidity. We have been very fortunate in the
                                                                             experience as Financial Executive in various functions, mainly in the
         successful collaboration with UniCredit
                                                            Georg Fischer Piping Systems Division.
         throughout this project, with excellent
         support, proactive ideas and very strong
         personal relationships. Looking ahead, not
                                                                               Atul Malhotra
         only will we seek to onboard more suppliers,
                                                                               Head of Procurement, Georg Fischer Automotive
         but we will also seek additional means to
         manage working capital and liquidity                                 Atul Malhotra has been the Head of Procurement for Georg Fischer
         successfully. We are also aware that as the                          Automotive for the past nine years. In this capacity he is responsible
         SCF programme is a long-term initiative, it is                       for the worldwide sourcing and procurement activities of this
         likely to become more or less competitive as                         Division with an annual procurement spend totalling around EUR
         funding conditions evolve; consequently, we        1bn. In all, he has over 30 years’ professional experience as a business executive in
         will need to review it regularly to ensure         varied functions, mostly with international groups such as Continental, ABB, Adtranz
         that it continues meeting our liquidity            and GF.
         needs, and those of our suppliers. ■

         Reprinted from TMI | www.treasury-management.com                                                                                                11
SEPA isn’t just
              somewhere down
              the road

                                                                                                                         Better start
                                                                                                                         now!
                                                                                                                         Beginning 1 February 2014 all national and
                                                                                                                         international payments will be permanently
                                                                                                                         switched over to SEPA. Why not deal with
                                                                                                                         this topic right now so that you’re ready to
                                                                                                                         go by the start date? Our specialists are at
                                                                                                                         your service ready to help you in any way –
                                                                                                                         Let’s talk about it!
                                                                                                                         www.gtb.unicredit.eu

 This material has been prepared solely for information purposes. The products and services featured above are offered by a network of banks and representative offices of UniCredit S.p.A. or its affiliates
 (the “UniCredit Group”) in accordance with appropriate local legislation and regulation. UniCredit Corporate & Investment Banking is a trademark of UniCredit S.p.A.

HVB-CIB-13-5005 Anz_Sepa_TT_210x297.indd 1                                                                                                                                                      19.07.13 11:33
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