What’s on International Treasurer’s radar screen this week.
This week’s editorial meeting brought forth several subjects International Treasurer will be looking at over the course of the next few weeks. Some items are the result of recent NeuGroup peer group meetings, including the continued dissonance between US and the rest of the world on international accounting standards. Also, what to make of bank-made treasury management systems?
IFRS not anytime soon.
Just a few months ago it seemed the FASB and IASB reorganized their respective leaderships in order to smooth the way for convergence. Instead, now it seems the two accounting regulators are further apart than ever. “Condorsement” (see related story here) seems to be the only acceptable plan for US regulators, which, according to Fitch Ratings, means a mechanism that preserves both US GAAP and IFRS while both standards converge over time. After the standards are converged, a body, likely the FASB, will then have to endorse future IFRS on a standard-by-standard basis similar to the ratification process of the EU.
Bank TMS.
Recently pitched at the NeuGroup’s FX Managers’ Peer Group 2 meeting were the merits of a bank-created and run treasury management system. Members were intrigued by the prospect of a bank-based system for managing its treasury needs. However, there were some worries about conflicts of interest and whether a bank would have too much company information. Also a concern was the long-term sustainability of that system. Would a bank continue to support a TMS – its maintenance and upgrades – under, say, new management? Or if the ROI starts to deteriorate?
P-Card ownership.
Who should own the p-card and travel card program? That was a question and a session at a recent Engineering & Accounting Treasurers’ Peer Group (E&CTPG). And should rebate trump pricing? No. By having the program managed outside of treasury, many times the rebate becomes the most important aspect of the contract negotiation (over price). By moving to treasury, one member of the E&CTPG found it could better manage the costs of the program and the overall bank relationships as these programs fit into the bigger picture of how the business handed out services to banks.