Citi

Brazil Corporate Treasury Update

Report date: 
27 Mar 2024

Commentary

Brazil is a success story. It often does not receive the credit it deserves, because it remains a difficult and complicated place to do business. But all the treasurers involved in this discussion have large and profitable businesses there – there was a time when most people lost money. On the political front, Brazil has recently seen both left and right wing governments, but both have respected election results, and the economy has continued to progress through it all.

Of course, it is not all rosy: though many rules and administrative processes have been relaxed, much complexity remains. In the past, a local treasury presence was required: it is now possible to run the country from offshore, though a specialist team may still be necessary.

The challenges discussed in the call:

  • Boletos: many customers in Brazil pay using boletos. These are a form of bill of exchange, where a document is prepared, usually by the seller, with all the payment information, including a barcode. This can then be presented by the payer in any location, and payment will be received by the seller in their bank account. This is a good system, but participants complained vehemently about the cost, and banks’ unwillingness to reduce the fees. Other issues:
  • Boletos are often cancelled when they are not paid on time and a new one is issued, instead of charging the intended late payment fees. 
  • Payment of a single invoice is often spread over several boletos, each with different due dates: this causes the very accounts receivable reconciliation issues the system is designed to avoid.
  • Boletos can be issued electronically (e-boletos): these reduce the amount of paper but, disappointingly, the fee reduction is not significant.
  • Some participants regularly do RFPs for this business, and frequently change banks. But fees remain high, and banks are often unwilling to continue.
  • Frequent changes in the process and rules present challenges in keeping the systems updated – this often results in manual processing.
  • One participant noted an improvement in service and processing efficiency.
  • PIX: the good news is that a form of on-line payment, PIX, is available and becoming increasingly popular, even for B2B transactions – and the fees are paid by the payor. The bad news is that the fees are also high, though not as high as for boletos. 
  • Tax payments: there is a requirement to maintain accounts with many local banks to make payments to tax authorities around the country. One participant is very happy with a JPMorgan tool to manage this and eliminate the related local accounts. Another used this tool in the past, but is now achieving the same result with Citi.
  • FX documentation

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Topics covered in this report: 
Bank Relationships, FX, Hedging FX, Receivables, Boletos, payroll, PIX, Tax, Supply Chain Finance
Service providers discussed in this report: 
Bradesco, Itau, Citi, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Santander, FXall

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Managing Bank Relationships in Japan

Report date: 
18 Mar 2024

Commentary

With complex countries, we usually think of emerging markets. Japan is one of the most advanced, largest and affluent economies in the world – but it is also a very complex place for foreign companies to operate in.

Usually, the complexity for treasurers comes from regulation. In Japan, this is not the case: the yen is freely traded in one of the deepest markets; cash can be pooled and swept both within the country and across borders; one participant does POBO there; Japanese banks willingly report transactions and balances by MT 940; it has deep and open capital markets; and four of the world’s twenty largest banks by assets are Japanese. Instead, the complexity comes from a very strong culture, which is often not well understood by non Japanese, and which leads to a different way of doing business.

This call, which was well attended and quite animated, went into the challenges foreign treasurers face in this environment. Peers raised the following:

  • High bank fees: Japanese banks are reluctant to negotiate these down
  • Japanese banks are not used to RFPs for cash management – this is not how the domestic market operates. Many large Japanese companies have strong historical relationships with their banks, which often involve minority shareholdings.
  • While MT 940s are not an issue, one participant faced significant issues getting their Japanese bank to implement even a simple host to host communication
  • Communications challenges: it can be difficult to find Japanese employees who speak good English – very few bankers in domestic operations speak it.
  • The need to carefully manage business meetings: these are usually more formal than in many other cultures: deference to senior personnel is required
  • Difficulty managing onshore operations from a remote location: the local online banking tools are nearly all Japanese language only
  • The language issue is further complicated by the katakana character set
  • Resistance of local teams to change, especially if it involves working with foreign banks
  • Complexity in managing relationships and wallet share with Japanese banks, who are often key global providers of credit and FX
  • The use of company chops instead of signatures, and the related control issues
  • The requirement to use local bank accounts for certain types of tax payments
  • Security and confidentiality in Japanese online payment systems is not best in class – one participant had an issue with a single person (not in HR) making all payroll payments
  • Repatriating cash via dividends and intercompany loans is not a problem, but it brings the usual complications: the need for retained earnings (one participant’s business receives advance payments), withholding tax and currency hedging cost. 

How to handle these problems?

  • One peer did an RFP a few years ago, and awarded

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Topics covered in this report: 
Bank Relationships, Intercompany loans, Dividends, POBO/ROBO, RFPs, Cash Pooling - cross border, Cash Pooling - domestic
Service providers discussed in this report: 
Bank of America, JP Morgan, MUFG, Mizuho, SMBC, Citi, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank

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India Corporate Treasury Update

Report date: 
20 Feb 2024

Commentary

Calls on India are always well attended: there is never a shortage of items to discuss. It is already a very large market, and it continues to grow – so all international companies are motivated to manage its many complexities. 

Complexity is something at which India excels: the regulations are many, varied, and never easy to navigate. It can be difficult to know exactly what they are: as often happens, we spent a lot of time trying to establish what is, and what is not, allowed. At the same time, the country has come a long way. Many things which used to be forbidden are now allowed: cash can be brought into and out of the country with relative ease, though not without red tape. The authorities are relatively flexible and business friendly. India is in the vanguard of efforts to move away from cash for retail transactions: this may be mostly for tax reasons, but it reflects the country’s leading position in technology.

At the same time, it remains a very large country, with significant regional variations, including language, climate, culture and religion – so differences will continue to exist. Our conversation covered the following points:

  • The economy continues to perform well, though competition is fierce – and, in some areas, India continues to favour national champions.
  • Operations: most peers had different legal entities in India involved in different activities: manufacturing, R&D, shared service centres, marketing, etc. Intercompany lending within the country, while permitted, can be complicated.
  • Onshore versus centralised treasury: many MNCs have local treasury teams, due to the regulations and complexity. This is beginning to change: several participants are starting to bring India into their centralised structures. 
  • Similarly, most peers are only using international banks in the country, and shutting down relationships with local banks. One participant attributed this in part to a regulatory requirement to link lending activity to transactional business – especially as the foreign banks can now provide complete services.
  • Another peer

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Topics covered in this report: 
Bank Relationships, FX, Hedging FX, Payments - cross border, Intercompany loans, Cash Pooling - domestic, Cash Repatriation, Payments - domestic, Funding
Service providers discussed in this report: 
Citi, HSBC, JP Morgan, Bank of America, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank

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Mexico - Corporate Treasury Update

Report date: 
12 Jan 2024

Commentary

In many ways, Mexico is a paradox. It has a vital, and complicated, relationship with its northern neighbour: apart from anything else, migration across its land border into the USA is a significant, and highly contentious, topic in US domestic politics.

But the reality is that Mexico has a thriving economy, and has modernised its financial and banking infrastructure to the point where the consensus on the call was that it is a country where it is relatively easy to work, and where most modern treasury management techniques can be used. There are no exchange controls, cash can be freely transferred across the national borders, and cross border cash pooling is regularly practiced. FX hedging can be done freely both onshore and offshore, and the country is well banked, with both good local banks and most international banks being well represented.

Despite this overall positive environment, we still had a lively call. There are a series of challenges, and some points were not always totally clear. None is particularly serious, but they still take up management time and attention:

  • Citibank operate through a relationship with Banamex. While this works well, several participants reported service level issues, and there were challenges with data not being transmitted through the IT systems. This resulted in manual interventions which should not have been required.
  • Consistent with their global strategy, Citi/Banamex are withdrawing from the retail banking sector. For some participants, this caused a problem, as banks in Mexico share the Latin American practice of giving employees a better deal on their retail banking services if the company pays payroll through them.
  • Otherwise, some participants reported issues setting up and managing local
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Topics covered in this report: 
Bank Accounts, Bank Relationships, Cash Pooling - cross border, intercompany netting, payroll, POBO/ROBO
Service providers discussed in this report: 
Banamex, JP Morgan, HSBC, Bank Mendes Gans, Bank of America, BBVA, Citi

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Corporate Treasury ESG Practical Approaches

Report date: 
6 Dec 2023

Commentary

What do companies really think about climate change? What are they really doing?

This call on ESG was lively and gave us some valuable insights. I strongly recommend reading the detailed report. 

Two years ago, when we last discussed this, the main takeaways were:

  • Treasurers were interested in green bonds and financing, but very wary of the lack of clear standards
  • Treasury has a role to play, for example in selecting banks with good green credentials – but this needs to be part of an enterprise wide approach, which was often lacking.
  • The “E” part of the equation tends to receive more focus than the “S” and “G”.

This time, the discussion was very different. The reporting issues and the need for standards has received a lot of media attention recently – but our participants have mostly moved on. Interest in these products has waned: one participant said that, if investors consider the company to be green, the bonds will be priced accordingly, while another found it too hard to prove that the proceeds were being used in a green way. Green investments generally presented many issues, including tracking environmental credentials, and the need for unacceptably long tenors.

Instead, a picture emerged where:

  • All the companies represented have a real commitment to improving sustainability
  • Treasurers are finding it easier to collaborate with other functions for reporting, as ESG goals are becoming more central to corporate strategies. Though one participant finds the US focuses more on “S” and “G” than Europe. 
  • From an “E” perspective, European banks were seen as being more proactive than their US counterparts with BNP Paribas, Scandinavian and Dutch banks name checked as thought leaders.
  • Many companies are using VPPAs (Virtual Power Purchase Agreements) to help improve their carbon footprint. This tool, also known in the US as a REC
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Topics covered in this report: 
ESG, Green Bonds, Green Investments, Supply Chain Finance, VPPA, PPA
Service providers discussed in this report: 
BNP Paribas, Citi, JP Morgan, Société Générale, ING, Rabobank, Handelsbanken, MUFG, HSBC, Nordea, SEB

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Corporate Treasury KYC & AML Issues and Approaches

Report date: 
29 Nov 2023
Topics covered in this report: 
AML, KYC
Service providers discussed in this report: 
JP Morgan, Citi, Barclays, Standard Chartered, ING, Santander, BNP Paribas, Bank of America, SWIFT, Kyriba, Ethixbase, CoorpID, HSBC, Avallone

Please email Rupert at rupert@complexcountries.com if you have any comments to add, or discussion points you would like to raise on this topic.

Turkey Corporate Treasury Update

Report date: 
20 Nov 2023

Commentary

Turkey is a challenging environment – but it works. Inflation is around 85%, the currency is depreciating rapidly and very expensive to hedge, and funding is regulated and very hard to obtain. Two years ago, restrictions were placed on the remittance of dividends, though today, those restrictions have been lifted and there are no formal exchange controls. 

Despite all this, participants on our call generally reported growing businesses, with positive results.

The main challenges:

  • Overdrafts are not available, or they are prohibitively expensive. This is not new: the country has always imposed cost penalties on short term borrowing. The central bank now requires a reserve deposit for all loans: one participant said this was 60%, while another reported 200%. Either way, this has effectively made local loans all but impossible.
  • One way of satisfying reserve requirements is to purchase Turkish government T-bills. No foreign bank is prepared to do this, so funding via international core relationship foreign banks is no longer possible. Local banks are generally also reluctant to lend: the few exceptions are government owned banks.
  • Bank deposits in foreign currency hardly receive any interest; local currency ones attract interest at around 30%, against an inflation rate of about 85%.
  • Given this, and given the high rate of inflation, there is a lot of pressure on working capital: customers are seeking longer payment terms, while suppliers are looking to be paid early. One participant has sought, without success, to put in place supply chain financing solutions.
  • Most participants manage to run their businesses with no debt. Cross border intercompany
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Topics covered in this report: 
Bank Relationships, Hedging FX, Funding, Cash Pooling - cross border, Cross border sweeping, Dividends
Service providers discussed in this report: 
BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Citi, HSBC, TEB, ING, Yapi Kredi

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China Corporate Treasury Update

Report date: 
13 Nov 2023

Commentary

With recent events, there has been less media focus on China. The news related to China has been about trade tensions with the US, the extent of China’s relationship with Russia, and the issues related to the real estate sector. Even COVID has tended to fade into the background, with the economic impact of the extended lockdowns and the disappointing pace of the recovery.

The purpose of this call was to find out how our members are finding the business and regulatory environment in China, and the extent to which their operations and treasury management are being impacted.

The overwhelming response was that it is very much business as usual – both in the good and bad respects. Participants on the call come from a variety of industries: while some, especially those facing the consumer, are seeing a significant slowdown, some continue to see growth. Everyone saw current difficulties as being transient, and nobody was looking to reduce their presence. The call quickly got into the operational challenges China presents – it was the familiar scenario of regulations which are always changing, are often not totally clear, and surprises.

  • Chinese banks. One participant reported that one local bank, ICBC, had proved to be very proactive in helping their company automate several processes, using new technology. This is a big step forward, as Chinese banks have traditionally preferred to avoid this kind of engagement with foreign companies. 
  • At the same time, there was a feeling that, as their traditional real estate lending activities have come under pressure, several Chinese banks are now more willing to lend to foreign companies.
  • At the same time, most participants prefer to limit their relationships to the core foreign banks: this is becoming easier, as foreign banks are now able to provide services, such as the basic account, which used to be reserved to local banks. Several participants are reducing their banking relationships, usually focusing on core – international – banks.
  • Also, participants reported that FX payments are being approved more quickly, and regulations seem to be easing – there was a lot of discussion about the requirement to bring the balance
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Topics covered in this report: 
Cash Pooling - cross border, Cash Repatriation, Bank Relationships, Funding, FX, Dividends, Cash Pooling - domestic
Service providers discussed in this report: 
ICBC, HSBC, Citi, JP Morgan, Standard Chartered

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