This week’s International Treasurer editorial meeting brought forth a number of issue we’ll explore over the coming days and weeks.
What’s in a treasury audit report?
A question was recently posed by a NeuGroup member to the entire NeuGroup network of treasurers asking what others report to their audit committee. The questioning member lamented that his report was seemingly growing stale and less useful and was looking for input on how he might make it more meaningful in both content and appearance. He received no less than 36 responses giving him more than enough input upon which to base changes. We’ll take a look at what was in those responses.
Custodian banks
Another query to The NeuGroup’s Treasury Investment Managers’ Peer Group asked members what custodian banks they used and what they thought of them. Other questions included whether members used their CB’s accounting services for book of record and if not who? Also, whether they used another custodian prior to using their current one; who it was it and why they switched.
Working capital committees
Refinement of popular liquidity management strategies continues as treasurers seek to brainstorm more out-of-the-box alternatives for ways to manage liquidity in highly regulated and emerging markets. The creation of a working capital committee is seen as an effective way to better track and manage corporate priorities as it relates to the overall management of working capital.
MMF update
“Reduced supply of traditional money market securities at year-end has pushed funds to allocate cash to alternative sources.” So says a recent Fitch MMF report that reveals many funds have simply left cash uninvested and, coincidentally, sitting in their custodian banks. Fitch also reports that many asset managers have developed products to meet the demand of investors leaving MMFs ahead of reform. International Treasurer has reported recently that companies like PIMCO, BlackRock and others have created new vehicles with MMF-like features, although usually longer in maturity than regular MMFs.