Category: Uncategorised

Thanks to a flurry of global investment, renewables capacity has soared for the past two decades. But then, in 2018, growth in renewables plateaued for the first time since 2001. 

In an article for BRINK News, Trevor d’Olier-Lees, Senior Director Infrastructure at S&P Global Ratings, explains the reasons for the momentary lapse of growth – arguing that fundamental market changes such as declining government support and technological risks have brought new complexities for infrastructure investors and technology providers to consider.

D’Olier-Lees writes: “S&P Global Platts Analytics still expects renewable additions to continue over the next two decades. Importantly, though, the recent hiatus of growth is a stark reminder to the market that an upward growth trajectory shouldn’t be taken for granted.”

Read the full article in BRINK News here.

Writing for Treasury Management International, Christian Hausherr, European Product Head of Payables Finance, Deutsche Bank, explains how payables finance can be used as means of securing global supply chains.

Companies looking to provide high-quality products, assembled at the best possible value, have reaped the benefits of globalisation over the past few decades, notes Hausherr. And while this has profoundly impacted business for the better, it also leaves these enterprises exposed to major geopolitical or macroeconomic events.

Read the full article here.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Stephanie Besse – Natixis’ Global Head of Debt Capital Markets for Corporates – mentions that European borrowers planning January debt sales may take the opportunity to sell new bonds as tensions simmer in the Middle East.

“If I was an issuer planning to come in the next two weeks, I’d be looking to use any window from now”, said Besse. “The situation is worrying and may lead to more volatility. Still, for now it probably isn’t severe enough to prompt corporate borrowers to bring debt-sale plans forward”, she concluded.

To read the article, please click here.

Writing for CFO South Africa, Global Credit Data’s Executive Director, Richard Crecel and Membership and Methodology Executive, Daniela Thakkar, outline results from their latest IFRS 9 Benchmarking Report.

As banks’ first financial statements under the new IFRS 9 reporting standard are released, results from the study indicate their Expected Credit Loss (ECL) estimates under the new standard vary wildly – even when assessing identical portfolios of assets. The complex framework, they argue, will require further benchmarking on a larger scale, including developing a range of standard methodologies and reference points.

Read the full article here.

Read the full report here.

While the uptake of sweeping initiatives, such as SCT Inst and SWIFT gpi tend to grab all the headlines, there remain a number of other pain points for banks and corporates that can be addressed only through close dialogue between both parties. Let’s take credit collection as an example. This is a key contributor to many businesses’ cash flows, yet the process itself can often be time-consuming and frustrating. This frustration was felt by FCA Bank – an equally held joint venture between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Italy and Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance – as it sought a faster, more efficient and more transparent solution through UniCredit.

To read the article in full, please click here.

Global Credit Data’s latest probability of default (PD) benchmarking report shows that bank default ratios for corporate debt have dropped from 1.12% to 0.73% since 2016. On the face of it, this is good news, but could it be masking a corporate debt bubble?

Data from the report, which is designed to help banks benchmark their Probability of Default (PD) estimates against industry peers – and analyses long-term internal observed default rates and internal rating migration matrices from a portfolio of 26 leading financial institutions over a period of 15 years – show that bank loans have been performing well in recent years, but the figures are also consistent with fears of a corporate debt bubble.

An influx of newly issued corporate debt (so new as to be unlikely to already be defaulted) can have the effect of driving default ratios down, while, in practice, if this debt is issued by lower-rated companies, the underlying risk of default may well be increasing.

Read the report here.

The news was covered in The Global Treasurer, TRF News, Business Money, Trade Finance Global, Treasury 360, CTMfile.

Against a backdrop of lengthening supply chains and economic uncertainty, comprehensive working capital management programmes are growing in popularity. Adeline de Metz, UniCredit’s Global Co-Head of Trade and Working Capital Solutions, outlines how a holistic approach to working capital management can lead to significantly better results over time.

To read the article in full, please click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The payments sector has made huge strides in recent years. In Europe, the introduction of instant domestic payment services such as SCT Inst and TIPS has stoked demand for faster payments beyond Europe’s borders. While SWIFT gpi has moved us closer to meeting this demand, there is still work to be done – starting with the integration of gpi and the continent’s instant payments schemes, argues Cédric Derras, UniCredit’s Global Head of Cash Management.

To read the article in full, please click here.

In line with ambitions to strengthen its expertise in the hotel finance sector, Bank Leumi UK has announced the appointment of Stephen Welch to its team as Senior Relationship Manager. With over 30 years’ experience in the finance industry, Stephen joins Leumi UK from Santander and will report directly to Louise Gillon, who is heading up the activity in this space.

In his new role, Stephen will be responsible for building on the bank’s sectoral expertise in the hotel financing sector, while strengthening both new and existing client relationships. His appointment comes at an important time for Leumi UK, as the bank ramps up its efforts to expand the team and accelerate the growth of the business, as part of CBO Andy Mallin’s new business strategy.

Following Moorgate’s outreach, the news was covered by Business Money, Property Funds World, Specialist Banking, Global Banking & Finance Review, Managers of Wealth (paywall).