Credit & Risk

New CHOICE For Financial Reform

New CHOICE For Financial Reform

8 min readAmongst the numerous debates happening up on Capitol Hill, one that’s slipped under the radar is related to financial regulatory reform. On June 8th, with the whole of the country’s attention fixated on former FBI Director James Comey, the House of Representative passed the Financial CHOICE Act along party lines. The bill aims to rollback…

Get Ready for Fed Balance Sheet Normalization

1 min readWhen the Federal Reserve began amassing Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities to fight deflation in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, no one knew for sure how much debt it would add to the nation’s balance sheet, or how long the unprecedented “quantitative easing” program would last. While the answers are still by no means…

Fed Balance Sheet Normalization

Fed Balance Sheet Normalization

4 min readAbstract Key takeaways: While details are lacking, one can generally expect balance sheet normalization to start at the end of 2017, with reinvestment gradually phased out over one year, taking 2.5 years to complete for a total reduction of $1.8 trillion in Treasury and MBS bonds. Impacts to Expect: Higher interest rates on Treasury securities…

New Challenges in Counterparty Risk Management

1 min readThe rapidly changing global risk management landscape has created new challenges for corporate cash managers. Money market fund reforms, rising interest rates, regulatory uncertainty and geopolitical upheavals have elevated potential risks, inviting ever-closer board scrutiny of Treasury operations. Our white paper this month, Separately Managed Accounts in Counterparty Risk Management, explores the latest challenges in…

Separately Managed Accounts in Counterparty Risk Management

Separately Managed Accounts in Counterparty Risk Management

3 min readAbstract Counterparty risk management should have an integrated framework. While utilizing a separately managed account may help reduce a corporation’s concentration risk in a money market fund, it may also be an important tool to reduce enterprise level counterparty risk. A portfolio of securities not correlated with the firm’s largest credit exposures may help to…

Earnings Credit Rate is Slow to Respond in Rising Rate Environment

Earnings Credit Rate is Slow to Respond in Rising Rate Environment

3 min readThe Earnings Credit Rate (ECR) has been a successful tool used by banks to lure corporate depositors during the low interest rate environment, but shouldn’t be expected to keep pace with rising interest rates. Banks offer ECRs to offset bank transactional fees for non-interest bearing deposits accounts, effectively acting as a conduit to hard interest….

Corporate Treasurers Ignoring Bank Exposures Before Prime Money Market Fund Transition

Corporate Treasurers Ignoring Bank Exposures Before Prime Money Market Fund Transition

1 min readIntroduction Many corporate treasurers are keeping their cash in bank deposits, U.S. Treasuries and government money market funds as they assess the impact of ongoing reforms that are changing the risk and liquidity profiles of prime money funds. According to the 2016 Liquidity Risk Survey of 130 treasury professionals by Strategic Treasurer and Capital Advisors…

Corporate Treasurers Ignoring Bank Exposures Before Prime Money Market Fund Transition

Corporate Treasurers Ignoring Bank Exposures Before Prime Money Market Fund Transition

5 min readNew Liquidity/Risk Survey Identifies Opportunity Costs Associated with Bank Deposits and Government Securities Many corporate treasurers are keeping their cash in bank deposits, U.S. Treasuries and government money market funds as they assess the impact of ongoing reforms that are changing the risk and liquidity profiles of prime money funds. According to the 2016 Liquidity…

Brexit: Big Deal, or Not?

1 min readAs seismic events go, Brexit ranks right up there. It was unpredicted, and its disruptive influence quickly radiated out from its London epicenter. As the news spread, commentary from a sea of pundits flooded the market with various macro views of the potential damage Great Britain’s exit from the Euro zone would cause. While many…

Brexit: Five Takeaways for Institutional Cash Investors

Brexit: Five Takeaways for Institutional Cash Investors

3 min readAfter an initial shock, global financial markets calmed down in the week following the June 24 vote by the British electorate to leave the European Union (Brexit). As leaders from the United Kingdom and EU began a process of separation that could take several years, the immediate impact on institutional cash investors was only mildly…