Training Courses > An Introduction to Treasury 2010

Published: 10th June 2010 by William Webster

An Introduction to Treasury 2010, (Two Days)

Almost without exception every client I deal with has expanded the area that works with treasury. That's finance, risk, audit, compliance and reporting. It's not surprising. Regulation is in the ascendancy and it's creating a shortage of skills. Something only a few months ago we wouldn't have anticipated.

And the risk?

It's not that you lose all your staff at once. It's the steady dilution of the expertise. Eventually it operationally affects your business.

Can you do anything?

I can't offer a "magic bullet" but here is a remedial step. It is the new treasury course, it lasts two days. It's suitable for small groups of 4-10 and is run on site.

It addresses how things have changed. From products and risks to the way markets now behave, the new rules on liquidity, how credit risk is mitigated and the new focus on governance and limits.

This is what's in it:

Day One

Key issues in financial markets today

• Regulation
• Risk
• Governance
• Liquidity
• The affect on treasury

Inside the Treasury: What the Treasury does.

• Key aspects of policy
• The main roles & responsibilities
• Segregation & reporting structure

Key terms that are used within treasury: An explanation of essential terminology and definitions.

Money markets products: The main products and how these markets have changed.

• Loans and deposits
• Certificates of deposit
• Money market funds
• Central bank deposits
• Treasury bills

Repurchase agreements: How repo transactions work and the risks involved.

• Classic repo
• Repo for funding
• Risks associated with repo

Liquidity risk: Extensive regulation has completely altered the way this risk is managed.

• The "drivers" of liquidity
• Wholesale and retail funding
• The impact of stresses
• The buffer requirement
• Turnover
• The cost of liquidity
• Contingency funding plans

Foreign exchange: How foreign exchange markets work and how firms use FX deals.

• Spot, forward and swap transactions

Derivative products: What they are, what leverage is, why the derivative market has grown. The risks derivatives have.

Interest rate & currency swaps: Interest rate swaps are used to hedge and trade interest rate risk.

• How they are used in hedging

Interest rate options:

• A brief explanation of caps, floors and swaptions. Why bank balance sheets contain optionality.  

Day Two

Bonds: How firms use capital markets for the asset and liability side of their balance sheet.

Floating rate notes: What they are, how they work, how they are valued.

Fixed rate bonds: What they are and how they are used from a funding perspective.

Structured products: A brief explanation of collateralised securities, how they work and the risks involved.

What happens when you do a transaction: This section will consider what happens when a transaction is completed, where the trade goes, what happens to it, the key controls that take place and some of the risks that can arise.

Market risk: An introduction to this topic that assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the following:

• Gap reports
• Basis point value
• Value at risk
• Earning at risk

Credit risk:

• How it is incurred and how it is measured
• The importance of ratings and the risk they can pose

Collateral Management: With OTC derivative transactions.

• How collateral management works
• Products covered
• Netting & terminology
• Valuations & margin calls
• Dispute resolution
• Operational risks

Operational risk in Treasury

• How things can go wrong
• Settlement risk

Governance & risk limits

• How and why the board is involved in setting the risk parameters
• How this translates into risk limits
• Types and examples of limits
• Escalation processes

End of workshop and review