Latest Articles

• FASB Proposes End to Shortcut Many Treasurers Use to Reduce Earnings Volatility At a meeting last week FASB reaffirmed its postion to move toward a "bifurcation by risk" model to evaluate hedge effectiveness....

  March 17, 2010

• Are You Ready for IFRS? IFRS will replace Canadian GAAP for public interim and annual financial statements for public companies on Jan. 1, 2011. But companies need to make accounting policy decisions under IFRS and prepare to gather data in accordance with IFRS by the start of FY 2010. ...

  March 17, 2010

• Is Your Company Vigilant in the Fight Against Corporate Fraud? According to research conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, fraud costs U.S. organizations losses estimated at 7 percent of annual revenues. Yet external auditors only detect approximately 9 percent of all fraud cases....

  March 17, 2010

• Turn Back the Clock: Congress Proposes Glass-Steagall Restoration Act Several members of the U.S. House and Senate introduced legislation that they hope will restore a separation between commercial banks and investment firms...

  March 17, 2010

• Senate Banking Committee Chairman Releases Financial Regulatory Reform Bill Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd unveiled a new bill to systematically reform the financial regulatory structure of U.S. capital markets....

  March 16, 2010

• AFP EconWatch -- March 15, 2010 Despite a wild month of weather and shaky consumer confidence, February was good to retailers. The Census Bureau's report on retail sales follows a similar positive report from chain stores released during the previous week. Yet, despite the strong month, the retail sales pace was slower than that of the peak experienced during late 2007 as the labor market has not benefited from the recent rebound in the economy....

  March 15, 2010

• AFP's Tom Hunt Talks Treasury Tom Hunt, CTP, who recently joined AFP as director of Treasury Services, sat down with Exchange to talk about his new position and the biggest issues facing treasury professionals....

  March 15, 2010

• Taming Commodity Risk, A Two-tier Hedging Strategy Companies hedging commodity risk traditionally relied on procurement strategies such as fixed price contracts, escalation clauses and inventory stockpiling to minimize the risk of price escalation, but procurement measures alone often are not enough...

  March 12, 2010

• SEPA: 12 Issues for Corporates to Consider In the long run, SEPA is expected to simplify payments across Europe. In the short term, it is creating a multitude of questions for corporate treasury executives, especially in the U.S....

  March 11, 2010

• Should End Users Worry About Centralized Derivatives Clearing? Researchers with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland analyze the impact of proposed centralized clearing for derivatives...

  March 11, 2010

• Direct Benefit: Microsoft Corporate Practitioner Reviews SEPA Updates Microsoft's Worldwide Industry Manager, Payments and Core Banking, says corporates have much to gain from SEPA....

  March 11, 2010

• Corporates Discuss International ACH Transactions International ACH rules have implications even for U.S. corporates that are relatively small, AFP members say...

  March 11, 2010

• Gerhard Hartsink, the Man Who Oversees SEPA, Updates AFP AFP caught up recently with Gerhard Hartsink, who chairs the European Payments Council, the self-regulatory body charged with leading the promotion and creation of a harmonized system. ...

  March 10, 2010

• Global Treasurer: Managing Risk in a Weak Dollar Environment At the most basic level, a weaker dollar means higher translated earnings for companies that are long foreign currencies. ...

  March 10, 2010

• AFP Presents Condoleezza Rice, Malcolm Gladwell Learn more about speakers at the AFP Annual Conference...

  March 9, 2010

• The Bottom Line: Certifiable Genius, or How to Succeed by Really, Really Trying In Outliers: The Story of Success, author Malcolm Gladwell makes the startling point that Mozart's success may not have been a stroke of certifiable genius at all...

  March 9, 2010

• CFOs, Treasurers to Discuss 'New Normal' Financial Environment Chief financial officers and treasurers will convene in Washington in May to discuss how to operate in the "new normal" financial environment....

  March 9, 2010

• Lean Machine: Applying Manufacturing Principles to Treasury and Finance Manufacturing companies are well positioned to tackle foreign exchange risk and related costs. That's because they have developed processes and disciplines that they can leverage to achieve greater visibility into their foreign currency exposure, and to make better, faster decisions...

  March 9, 2010

• March 2010 Payments Newsletter Six months after its launch, Payments looks again at the International ACH Transaction (IAT), NACHA's new format for cross-border ACH payments. We have two pieces of coverage looking at the topic. Our lead story looks at how corporates have fared in adopting the new format. NACHA's IAT guru, Priscilla Holland, offers some of her knowledge in this month's Q&A. Elsewhere, we have an excerpt from AFP's TMS Buyers' Guide and this month's news....

  March 8, 2010

• What Every Corporate Debt Manager Should Know Debt markets are not complicated. In fact, one expert says they are getting simpler with time....

  March 8, 2010

• AFP EconWatch -- March 8, 2010 The severe winter weather that affected much of the U.S. last month was historic in both meteorological terms and the impact it had on millions of Americans. The storms also appear to have helped make last month the 25th month in the past 26 in which the economy failed to produce jobs on a net basis....

  March 8, 2010

• Treasurer of City of Los Angeles Presents Check to Angel's Flight The City of Los Angeles, Grand Prize Winner of the AFP Pinnacle Grand Prize, will present a check to Angel's Flight for runaway and homeless youth, an organization run by Catholic Charities of Los Angeles. Wells Fargo Bank sponsored the recent Pinnacle Award program, generously donating $10,000 to the charity....

  March 5, 2010

• March 2010 AFP Risk Newsletter In the March issue of Risk, we will turn the pages on a Greek tragedy, mitigate counterparty credit risk, and do the disco with the Fed. As if that's not exciting enough, this month's peer to peer section looks at escheatment while another corporate treasury professional explains the career benefits of earning your Certified Treasury Professional designation....

  March 3, 2010

• AFP EconWatch -- March 1, 2010 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke repeated the Fed's intention to maintain interest rates at historic low levels even as the U.S. economy expanded during the end of 2009 at pace faster than previously had been estimated....

  March 1, 2010

• Disco, Discount Duck Well I don't think the word "disco" had been used as much on a Thursday afternoon since Rick Dees (of the Weekly Top 40 Countdown fame) was topping the charts back in October 1976 with his infamous "Disco Duck." Of course the "disco" of current interest is the Federal Reserve's discount rate....

  February 22, 2010

• AFP EconWatch February 22, 2010 The Federal Reserve took a surprising and symbolically important move on Thursday by raising the discount rate by 25-basis points to 0.75 percent. By raising the rate, the Fed continues to signal its intention to begin to roll back its many activities meant to stabilize the financial system....

  February 22, 2010

• Foreign Bank Account Reporting Update Financial professional with signature authority over a foreign bank account may have to include that information on their personal tax return...

  February 18, 2010

• AFP Comments to the FDIC on Risk Based Assessments The Association for Financial Professionals comments on way the FDIC's risk-based deposit insurance assessment system could be changed to account for the risks posed by certain employee compensation programs....

  February 18, 2010

• New IT Security Threat: Ex-Workers Vengeful ex-employees are becoming major concerns for senior IT professionals, according to a recent survey...

  February 15, 2010

• What Lies Ahead for Risk Managers A senior trader at Custom House describes the volatility situation in foreign exchange...

  February 15, 2010

• AFP EconWatch - February 15, 2010 Even as wild winter weather threatened to slow temporarily the pace of the economic recovery, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke outlined how the bank intended to rein in its overly accommodative policy stance. He did not, however, mention the timing or pace of such moves....

  February 15, 2010

• One of the First CTPs Tells Why His Firm is Testing More Colleagues The CTP advanced Arthur Scott's career. Now he is returning the favor to staff...

  February 12, 2010

• 10 CTP Study Tips Veteran CTP holder and former instructor Arthur Scott offers these 10 pointers to CTP students...

  February 12, 2010

• New AFP Director Hunt Talks Treasury Issues Previously at 3M Company, Tom Hunt oversaw the global banking strategy, redesigned and implemented a new domestic cash management structure and led acquisition activities for the treasury department....

  February 11, 2010

• Time to Push Banks for Same-Day ACH With Same-Day ACH, merchants will have a new clearing alternative that should accelerate funds availability on their consumer receivables, as well as support expedited payments -- possibly even via mobile devices. ...

  February 10, 2010

• Seven Supply Chain Challenges for 2010 When considering the global trade environment in 2010, there are a number of potential issues looming that can disrupt supply chains, sourcing strategies and the flow of working capital. ...

  February 10, 2010

• Risk Management Column: Turning on a Dime Last month the U.S. dollar exchange rate v. the Venezuelan bolivar was devalued artificially to to 2.6 bolivars for essential imports and 4.3 for non-essential products, impacting some well-known companies. ...

  February 9, 2010

• AFP Community: Corporates Discuss Working Capital Best Practices Responses flowed in as one member prepared to kick start a program, seeking ideas to present to upper management...

  February 9, 2010

• The Effect of Check21 on Float The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act or "Check 21" took effect on October 28, 2004 and has proven to be a game changer in the world of check processing. Check 21 has catalyzed the check clearing system's transformation from mainly paper check processing to mainly electronic processing using digital check images. But has Check 21 similarly affected the check float game?...

  February 3, 2010

• February 2010 AFP Risk Newsletter This month's Risk newsletter asks just how safe is mobile banking. Ever wonder what happens to your company's bottom line when a foreign currency devaluates overnight? Columnist Wolfgang Koester heads to Venezuela to satisfy your curiosity. ...

  February 3, 2010

• February 2010 Payments Newsletter One month into 2010, we turn our focus to Same Day ACH. The Federal Reserve is planning to launch a same day service in the second quarter, though a firm date is not yet available. ...

  February 3, 2010

• Electronic Payments: 2010 and Beyond A confluence of emerging developments in ACH and wire, combined with market trends for check usage, will finally create the right conditions for companies to take proactive control over their payments strategy....

  February 2, 2010

• Q and A with Risk Newsletter Editorial Advisory Board Meet Ben Kaufman, CTP, treasurer of Hertz Furniture in Mahwah, NJ. Kaufman is one of the newest members of the Risk EAB....

  February 2, 2010

• Risky Business: Interview with Brian Kalish AFP's finance practice lead discusses what the year ahead holds for risk management...

  February 2, 2010

• Working Together: Why Corporate Treasury Should Get Involved in Financial Statement Reporting The treasury department's core competencies in cash positioning, payment systems, liquidity management, capital structure and financial risk management qualify them to be formidable contributing partners...

  February 2, 2010

• AFP's Platform for Regulatory Change This crisis has triggered a variety of responses from regulators, both within countries and internationally....

  February 1, 2010

• The Bottom Line: You Say Dubai, I Say Hello AFP members are working 'inside the box,' looking for modest, workable improvements in treasury and finance....

  February 2, 2010

• AFP EconWatch--February 1, 2010 The U.S. economy ended 2009 growing at a rate that was last seen six years ago. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. economy grew at a 5.7 percent pace (on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis) during the quarter....

  February 1, 2010

• Say When: Determining How Much to Hedge Determining how much to hedge is a critical ingredient to any hedging program....

  Febraury 1, 2010

• Proceed with Caution: In AFP's Annual Business Outlook Survey, Members Cautiously Optimistic Corporate treasury professionals say the economy will rebound slightly this year, but won't really pick up until 2011....

  February 1, 2010

• SEC Adopts Changes to Money Market Funds Rule 2(a)7 On January 27, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 4 to 1 to adopt new rules to strengthen money market funds. The new rules focus on limiting risks associated with money market funds, increasing protection of investors, improving fund operations, and enhancing fund disclosures....

  January 29, 2010

• Federal Reserve Announces Closing of Several Liquidity Facilities The Federal Reserve announced that it would be closing the Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, the Commercial Paper Funding Facility, the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, and the Term Securities Lending Facility on February 1....

  January 29, 2010

• AFP's Discussion List: Working Capital Best Practices Recently on AFP's discussion list corporate treasury professionals discussed working capital best practices...

  January 29, 2010

• Letter from the President: Where Are You On the Curve? As the world gets back to business, we begin the year by focusing on risk management, one of the top issues you have identified for the coming year. ...

  January 28, 2009

• Portal Power The very recent trend of institutional investors spreading out their cash to multiple providers has not gone unnoticed...

  January 28, 2010

• Treasury 2.0:Meeting the Challenges, Defining the Opportunities in 2010 In 2010 smart corporate treasury executives are making the most of a tough situation....

  January 28, 2010

• Getting Ahead: With Credit Still Scarce, Corporate Practitioners Look for Other Solutions Corporate practitioners are preparing for an uptick in lending by getting their financial houses in order....

  January 28, 2010

• Cloudy Futures and Clear Visions The U.S. dollar is at a crossroads but for FX managers the strategy is clear....

  January 28, 2010

• Sigh of Relief? Lawmakers are still wrangling over OTC derivatives legislation OTC derivatives legislation is slowly making its way through Congress....

  January 28, 2010

• Bringing Balance to the Force Going beyond the much-anticipated GAO report on Interchange fees....

  January 28, 2010

• Period Piece: Periodicity in Cash Flow Forecasting The word 'periodicity' may sound funny, but this forecasting tool offers serious results....

  January 28, 2010

• Editor's Note: Shaping Content and Delivery for the Future Take a two-minute survey to help us shape content delivery for the future...

  January 27, 2009

• AFP EconWatch--January 25, 2010 While a variety of data give what is arguably conflicting information on the health of the nascent economic recovery, one of the more consistent sources for a positive reading of U.S. business conditions recently has been The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index....

  January 25, 2010

• The IASB is seeking Input from Financial Statement Users The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued a survey to solicit feedback on financial statement users' views about financial liability measurement. The survey focuses on the treatment of own credit for non-derivative financial liabilities measured at fair value....

  January 25, 2010

• CIEBA Presentation Before the PBGC Advisory Board On December 8, 2009, CIEBA members testified before the PBGC Advisory Board on the state of defined benefit plan investments and the challenges they face in the current funding environment....

  January 22, 2010

• AFP EconWatch -- January 18, 2010 Consumer prices increased by just 0.1 percent in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as tepid consumer demand and steady energy prices produced the slowest growth rate since July. Energy prices increased by just 0.2 percent as gasoline prices grew 0.5 percent. Both had moderated when compared to November when energy and gasoline prices jumped 4.1 and 6.4 percent, respectively....

  January 18, 2010

• President Obama Levies Fees Against TARP Recipients On Thursday, January 14, officials from the Obama Administration released the details of their plan to impose a fee on major financial institutions that received government assistance through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and similar programs over the past two years....

  January 14, 2010

• gtnews Launches European Forum for Senior-Level Finance Professionals The Global Corporate Treasurers Forum Europe will gather the most senior treasury and finance professionals for a June event in London to debate treasury and finance issues that affect multinationals, gtnews announced today....

  January 13, 2010

• January 2010 Payments Newsletter We are looking into mobile payments for the first issue of 2010 with a story exploring a nagging question for many corporates considering banking on handheld devices... Is it safe? ...

  January 8, 2010

• January 2010 AFP Risk Newsletter Risk takes a look at the year ahead, with columns by Brendan McGrath and Wolfgang Koester. In the monthly Peer to Peer section, your colleagues discuss how to cope with vendor risk. Finally, a new report tackles the growing information technology threat from disgruntled former employees....

• What Shall We Do With All of This Cash? We have now ridden the turbulent wave of financial uncertainty for the past couple of years. While many companies did not make it through the storm, those that built their Ark wisely probably survived by stockpiling cash ...

  January 7, 2010

• Is it Time to Repeal the Repeal? As Congress debates the merits of whether reinstating Glass Steagall Act provisions would heal wounds from the financial crisis, a history lesson might be warranted to explain how we got here in the first place....

  January 7, 2010

• Investing Short-Term Corporate Cash Today Overhauling the financial markets could keep cash yields low for the foreseeable future, according to one observer....

  January 6, 2010

• AFP Webinar - Cash Flow Forecasting: Advanced Valuation Techniques The biggest mistake corporate treasury and finance professionals make when cash flow forecasting is not making clear the operating assumptions that drive the financial valuation, and then not monitoring the realization of benefits during the integration of the business over time...

  December 29, 2009

• December 2009 Futures in Finance Newsletter The people who work in corporate treasury are uniquely positioned to assess how business conditions will affect their organizations in the immediate future, and they are not terribly optimistic...

  December 30, 2009

• AFP Government Relations Committee Seeks Volunteers As the Obama administration and Congress attempt to shore up the financial regulatory framework, AFP has been extremely active as a voice and advocate for corporate treasury and finance professionals. In addition to the efforts of AFP staff...

  December 29, 2009

• AFP EconWatch -- December 28, 2009 As 2009 wraps up, economic data released last week continued to point an economy that was growing at a modest pace as we enter the New Year. However, the third estimate of Q3 GDP growth was the smallest yet. ...

  December 28, 2009

• December 2009 Accounting and Reporting Newsletter This is a month for raising questions. Which is more important, convergence or relevance? Members of the CFA institute, the investor society, think relevance. ...

  December 23, 2009

• Musical Finance: For Finance Directors, a Few Words of Caution Finance directors have an obligation to themselves, their companies and the profession...

  December 22, 2009

• Will the SEC Renew FASB's Contract? The International Accounting Standards Board has entered a bid for the SEC's subcontract to become the accounting standard setter for public companies...

  December 22, 2009

• Overnight Secondary Market Beckons to Corporate Treasurers On the equity side, companies are venturing back into the secondary offering market to raise additional capital....

  December 22, 2009

• New AFP Payments Director Looks Ahead at Emerging Payments Issues Projects are designed to support members in engaging in industry issues, including educational forums, surveys, industry group cooperation ...

  December 22, 2009

• What Now? Corporate Treasury Professionals Discuss Challenges, Changes in 2010 For this article, AFP asked five treasurers what they expect in the coming year. These AFP members discussed liquidity concerns, refinance challenges and the role of the treasurer in 2010....

  December 22, 2009

• Federal Reserve Confirms Wind-down of Emergency Liquidity Programs At the conclusion of the recent December 16th FOMC meeting, the Federal Reserve confirmed the planned maturities of several emergency liquidity programs created to combat the recent financial difficulties....

  December 18, 2009

• Finance Professionals Don't See U.S. Companies Hiring Until 2011 Significant hiring won't begin at most U.S. companies until well into 2011, even though the U.S. economy will continue its modest recovery next year, according to professionals in the finance departments of U.S. companies...

  December 17, 2009

• 2010 AFP Business Outlook Survey The U.S. economy will continue strengthening at a modest pace in 2010. That is the view of U.S. financial professionals based on results of the sixth annual survey on business conditions, underwritten by Wells Fargo. ...

  December 17, 2009

• AFP CEO Jim Kaitz to Discuss Business Outlook Survey on CNBC Tune into CNBC Thursday morning, December 17, as AFP President and CEO Jim Kaitz will appear on Squawk on the Street to discuss the results of the 2010 AFP Business Outlook Survey, underwritten by Wells Fargo....

  December 16, 2009

• AFP Seeks Board of Directors Candidates Interested practitioner members should contact AFP...

  December 15, 2009

• Risk Management Practices Protected in House Derivatives Reform Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have taken an important step toward securing access to vital corporate risk management tools with the passage of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 ...

  December 14, 2009

• AFP EconWatch -- December 14, 2009 The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in October, slicing in half the big increase in the deficit from the previous month. The big news is that global trade activity continues to pick up....

  December 14, 2009

• Legislative Language Addressing Interest on Business Checking Passes the House Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. This legislation attempts to address the causes of the financial crisis ...

  December 14, 2009

• House Passes Financial Regulatory Overhaul Plan The U.S. House of Representatives approved the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. The goal of the bill is to address the causes of the financial crisis and prevent a future occurrence....

  December 11, 2009

• Editor's Note: AFP Introduces Global Treasurer Column AFP has engaged an international treasury specialist to conduct roundtable discussions with treasurers in key financial hub cities internationally. ...

  December 11, 2009

• Liquidity is Queen: Keeping Treasury and Your Business Linked in Hard Times There may be no magic formula for liquidity management, but global treasurers know a few truths about funding the enterprise and working with operations....

  December 11, 2009

• December 2009 AFP Risk Newsletter There are plenty of corporate practitioner perspectives this month in Risk, including advice for practitioners and financial institutions about RDC risk...

  December 10, 2009

• December 2009 Payments Newsletter For the year-end issue of Payments, we look across the Atlantic at the creation of a Single Euro Payments Area, taking on the issue from a few different angles....

  Deecmber 9, 2009

• Derivatives Exemption Crucial to AFP Members AFP convened a group of Washington decision-makers and corporate end-users in New York on Monday to discuss the latest in over-the-counter derivatives reform.  Reforming and regulating the OTC derivatives markets is a key pillar of a massive regulatory reform package moving through Congress. The House is debating its bill this week and could take a vote as early as Friday....

  December 9, 2009

• SEC Doesn't Pinpoint Deadline for International Accounting Standards Many had hoped that the SEC would drop a bombshell at their conference today for when or if the U.S. would be adopting international accounting standards. ...

  December 8, 2009

• AFP Econwatch--December 7, 2009 The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that November was the best month for labor market in nearly two years. The reported seasonally adjusted decline in payrolls of 11,000 not only shocked most analysts (who had expected that the net job loss would total between 100,000 and 150,000) but also provided the most tangible evidence that the job market may be nearing a turnaround....

  December 7, 2009

• AFP EconWatch--November 30, 2009 The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.8 percent during the third quarter of 2009, according to the second preliminary estimate of gross domestic product. While this was a decline from the original 3.5 percent growth estimate released a month ago, it represented the first increase in GDP since the second quarter of 2008....

  November 30, 2009