Bellin acquires financial instrument software and service provider Much-Net 

Treasury technology firm Bellin, a Coupa company, has announced that it has acquired Much-Net GmbH, a financial instrument software and service provider. The move is designed to strengthen and extend Bellin’s valuation and risk management offering.

Much-Net's risk management engine is aimed at the entire financial industry, including corporates, banks, investment funds, finance ministries, and insurances. In addition, the company offers process consulting to optimise risk management, limit management, performance measurement, and refinancing.

“Risk management is a fundamental but also multi-facetted and often highly complex part of every treasury function”, said Martin Bellin, CEO and founder of Bellin. “With the acquisition of Much-Net, we want to enable customers to benefit from the full suite of valuation and risk management options integrated in their treasury management system – from risk management staples to highly specialised solutions.”

Much-Net’s risk engine will be embedded into the existing Bellin treasury offering. Instruments analysed and valued cover all types of financial plain vanilla, structured bonds, commodity derivatives, collateral management or structured derivatives, hedge accounting (IAS39 and IFRS9), and more. With this extended treasury and risk management offering, Bellin says its customers will gain visibility and reduce risk across a unified set of liquidity and financial instrument information.

 

Anglian Water launches digital transformation with Bottomline

Financial technology provider Bottomline has announced that Anglian Water has selected its Payments and Cash Management solution to automate and streamline processes around the globe.

Anglian Water is a supplier of water and water recycling services to more than six million customers. Due to its broad reach, Anglian Water’s customers drive high Direct Debit volume. The company also processes a significant amount in payroll transactions and supplier payments. Anglian Water selected Bottomline to propel their digital transformation strategy for their treasury department, working to improve efficiencies, gain greater cash visibility and reduce costs.  

“Real-time cash reporting and visibility is essential for us,” said Jane Pilcher, group treasurer at AWG Group. “Achieving this across disparate internal systems and multiple e-banking platforms can be a challenge for many treasury teams in large corporates. Often the lack of connectivity between these systems results in time-consuming data extraction and compilation from several sources.”

Bottomline’s Payments and Cash Management solution is a centralised, standardised and secure SaaS platform which processes any payment type, and monitors transactions, bank balances, and cash and liquidity information in real-time.  Using aggregated data from numerous gateways, automated flows and tightly managed controls, the system is designed to give financial professionals better visibility of their cash position and the ability to better manage their multi-bank relationships.

 

Neo launches multi-currency account for SMEs

Neo, a treasury management fintech, is launching an international multi-currency account service for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The firm says that treasurers, CFOs and finance professionals are currently hampered by the need to navigate multiple accounts with different bank providers - many of which operate in silos - meaning that they are unable to monitor their cash flow, payments and currency exposure effectively.

Neo’s multi-currency account provides users with fully registered international bank account numbers (IBANs) from which they can complete payments in over 30 currencies. Neo says that a client can be up and running with a multi-currency business account within 48 hours, even while working remotely. With connectivity and membership of SWIFT, payments made through Neo can be securely tracked.

The service allows corporate treasurers to freely navigate between different currency-denominated accounts through a single dashboard, with access to real-time cash management, personalised data and detailed analytics. It also offers FX execution capabilities for spot, forwards, swaps and options in up to 80 currencies for hedging and risk management purposes. The platform also incorporates advanced security features such as four-eyes checks, tailored permissions for an unlimited number of users and a full log trail of actions.

 

AFP and Tranvorma partner on exam prep programmes for Indonesian financial professionals

The Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) and Tranvorma have announced a formal partnership to offer exam preparation programmes for treasury and finance professionals based in Jakarta, Indonesia. The courses, which are taught in Indonesian, are designed to equip financial professionals with the tools they need to earn the Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) and the Certified Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) Professional certifications.

The CTP designation, sponsored by AFP, signifies that treasury practitioners have demonstrated the knowledge and skills required to effectively execute critical functions related to corporate liquidity, capital and risk management. The FP&A credential, also sponsored by AFP, establishes a set of core competencies for the corporate financial planning and analysis profession and addresses areas that are not necessarily covered by a traditional degree. 

“This partnership with Tranvorma helps AFP bring the premier certifications for the finance profession to Jakarta,” said Himashi Soriano, managing director, APAC at the AFP. “The CTP and FP&A credentials can help Indonesian financial professionals earn higher salaries, stand out from the competition and expand career opportunities. There is no better time to upskill than right now.”