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A
Summer Internship Project Report
On
“Study of Treasury Management Banking in Sector:
with
Reference To: SBI and ICICI Banks
In the partial fulfillment of the Degree of
Master of Management Studies under the University of Mumbai
By
Mr. Anand.P.Mishra
[Roll No: B-36]
Specialization: Finance
Under the Guidance of
(Mrs)Prof. Raghukumari
(Internal Guide)
Aruna Manharlal Shah Institute of Management and Research Ghatkopar [W], Mumbai-86
2010-2011
`
Acknowledgement :-
“No Learning is proper and effective without Proper Guidance” Every study is incomplete
without having a well plan and concrete exposure to the student. Management studies are not
exception. Scope of the project at this level is very wide ranging. On the other hand it provide
sound basis to adopt the theoretical knowledge and on the other hand it gives an opportunities for
exposure to real time situation.
This study is an internal part of our MBA program and to do this project in a short period was a
heavy task.
Intention, dedication, concentration and hard work are very much essential to complete any
task. But still it needs a lot of support, guidance, assistance, co-operation of people to make it
successful.
I bear to imprint of my people who have given me, their precious ideas and times to enable me to
complete the research and the project report. I want to thank them for their continuous support in
my research and writing efforts.
I wish to record my thanks and indebtedness to (Mrs) Prof. Rghukumari – Faculty, college Aruna
Manharlal Shah Institute of Management Research, whose inspiration, dedication and helping
nature provided me the kind of guidance necessary to complete this project.
I am extremely grateful to management of Institute of Technology & Management, Ghatkopar
for granting me permission to be part of this college. I would also like to acknowledge my
parents and my batch mates for their guidance and blessings.
Date: -June 2011
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Table of contents:-
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Particulars Description Page Nos.
CHAPTER 1:- Introduction to project 1-5
CHAPTER 2:- Litrature Review 6
CHAPTER 3:- Research Methodology
Objective of studyScope of studyResearch MethodologyResearch design
8-11
CHAPTER 4:- Company Profile 12-16
CHAPTER 5:- Treasury Management 17-78
5.1 Overview of banking industry
5.2 Principal regulation of Indian banking sector
5.3 RBI - Regulation
5.4 Hierarchy of banking industry in India
5.5 TM an overview
5.6 Functioning of treasury department in banks
5.7 Objective of TM
5.8 Financial aspect of a function of a treasurer
5.9 Organizational structure of treasury
5.10 Elements of TM
5.11 Nature of treasury Assets & Liabilities
5.12 Treasury products & services
5.13 Types of risks associated with treasury & their mitigation
5.14 Risk management – RBI Guidelines/Norms
5.15 Future Scope/Challenges in TM
5.16 Role of IT in TM
COMPARISION BETWEEN TWO BANKS
&
CASE STUDY :1 STATE BANK OF INDIA
1.1 Overview of TM in SBI
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Executive Summary:-
The project is all about Treasury managementoperations in banks. Treasury management is the
management of an organization’s liquidity to ensure that the right amount of cash resources are
available in the right place in the right currency and at the right time in such a way as to
maximize the return on surplus funds, minimize the financing cost of the business, and control
interest rate risk and currency exposure to an acceptable level.
This project covers functions of treasury management operations in banks, organizational
structure of treasury, objectives and functions of treasurer which plays an important role in
banks.
The project also involves the elements in treasury management like cash reserve ratio, statutory
liquidity ratio, dates government securities, etc. which should be properly functioned by
treasurer.
The project includes nature of treasury assets and liabilities and treasury products & services
which plays an important role in very banks.
The project deals with risk involved in these treasury assets and liabilities and their mitigation.
Risks are of two types’ operational risk & financial risk. The project also includes risk
management guidelines which are laid down by RBI.
The project covers the future scope / challenges in treasury management, role of information
technology in treasury management and a study on SBI’s treasury and ICICI treasury.
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CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT
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1.1 Introductionof Treasury Management:
In general terms and from the perspective of commercial banking, treasury refers to the fund
and revenue at the possession of the bank and day-to-day management of the same. Idle
funds are usually source of loss, real or opportune, and, thereby need to be managed,
invested, and deployed with intent to improve profitability. There is no profit or reward
without attendant risk. Thus treasury operations seek to maximize profit and earning by
investing available funds at an acceptable level of risks. Returns and risks both need to be
managed. If we examine the balance sheets of Commercial Banks (Public Sector Banks,
typically), we find investment/deposit ratio has by far overtaken credit/deposit ratio. Interest
income from investments has overtaken interest income from loans/advances. The special
feature of such bloated portfolio is that more than 85% of it is invested in government
securities.
The reasons for such developments appear to be as under:
Poor credit off-take coupled with high increase in NPAs.
Banks' reluctance to cut-down the size of their balance sheets.
Government's aggressive role in lowering cost of debt, resulting in high inventory
profit to commercial banks.
Capital adequacy requirements.
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The income flow from investment assets is real compared to that of loan-assets, as the
latter is size ably a book-entry.
In this context, treasury operations are becoming more and more important to the banks and a
need for integration, both horizontal and vertical, has come to the attention of the corporate.
The basic purpose of integration is to improve portfolio profitability, risk-insulation and also
to synergize banking assets with trading assets. In horizontal integration, dealing/trading
rooms engaged in the same trading activity are brought under same policy, technological and
accounting platform, while in vertical integration, all existing and diverse trading and
arbitrage activities are brought under one control with one common pool of funding and
contributions.
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1.3 MEANING AND DEFINITION
Meaning:
Treasury is the glue binding together liquidity management, asset/liability management,
capital requirements and risk management. It has an increasingly important job to do. At one
end of the spectrum it manages balance sheets and liquidity, and does good things to enhance
the yield on assets and minimize the cost of liabilities, mostly through the clever and
intelligent use of derivatives. At the other end of the spectrum, treasury can help restructure
the balance sheet and provide new products.
All banks have departments devoted to treasury management, as do larger corporations.
Treasury management modules are available for many larger enterprise software systems.
Banks do not disclose the prices they charge for Treasury Management products.
Definition:
Treasury management is the management of an organization’s liquidity to ensure that the
right amount of cash resources are available in the right place in the right currency and at the
right time in such a way as to maximize the return on surplus funds, minimize the financing
cost of the business, and control interest rate risk and currency exposure to an acceptable
level.
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In other words,Treasury management (or treasury operations) includes management of an
enterprise' holdings in and trading in government and corporate bonds, currencies, financial
futures, options and derivatives, payment systems and the associated financial risk
management.
1.4Integrated Treasury:
We see integration of segmented financial markets- money market, debt and capital market
and forex market, etc., at the macro level and integration of treasury operations at the
operational level of banks. The term ‘integration’ means merger or centralization or
consolidation. The reforms that were initiated in 90s made domestic markets closely linked to
global markets. The domestic market is integration with global market at the micro level,
which has raised the need for integration of micro level units. Relaxation of regulations has
almost integrated different segments of financial markets- debt market, money market,
capital market, forex market, etc., which enabled free flow of money from one market to
another. Increased demands from their clients in tandem with high competition forced banks
to operate in all these markets. Once capital account convertibility is fully materialized, the
markets will become fully integrated.
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CHAPTER 2:
Litrature Review
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2.Literature Review
Kane ,Jay(Oct2006),Senior vice president global service at,The article focuses on
the use of electronic treasury management in maximizing liquidity. It states that with
automated accounts payable and receivable systems, businesses can reduce errors and
costs, as well as lessen exposure to check fraud. It comments on the use of automated
clearinghouse networks and purchase cards as alternatives to paper checks. It
mentions the use of remote deposit service to scan checks and transmit an electronic
image of the check to banks for deposit. It comments on the use of imaging
technology in other check transfer services
CFO and CIO, Joe Money Machinery Co., Birmingham, (June 2010), The article
offers information on treasury and cash management services provided by banks that
public accounting firms should consider to ensure that they are getting the most from
their banks. Among the services provided by banks include automated clearing house
(ACH) transactions, lockbox and zero-balance account (ZBA). Ways on how banking
clients can find a bank that offer treasury and cash management services at a
competitive price are discussed.
Lagre, Jack and Wolfi (May 2011) This article looks forward to the future of cash and
treasury management systems and services in Europe. It expects the Internet to drive
the future of such systems and services. It highlights the importance of cloud
computing and downloadable applications to the sector.
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CHAPTER 3:
Research Methodology
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3.1 Objective of the Study:
The objective of undertaking a project on Treasury Management operations in banks is
to have in-depth knowledge about the meaning of Treasury Management.
To know about the functions, organizational structure and objective of Treasury
Management in Banks.
To understand the elements of Treasury Management and the functions of treasurer.
To have a broader view on nature of treasury assets & liabilities and to know what are
their products and services involved in Treasury Management.
To understand the risk associated with Treasury Management and their mitigation.
To know what are the RBI guidelines formulated for Treasury Management.
To know the future scope involved in Treasury Management & role of information
technology in Treasury Management.
To have knowledge of how ICICI Bank manages its treasury.
To have knowledge of how SBI manages its treasury as SBI is the major contributors in
money and for-ex market.
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3.2 Scope of the Study:
The scope of the research includes the working of treasury management in banking sector by
making a comparison between two banks that is ICICI bank and STATE BANK OF INDIA
by following the RBI guidelines formulated for Treasury Management.
3.3 Research Methodology:-
REDMEN & MORY defines,”Research as a systematized effort to gain now
knowledge.”
It is a careful investigation for search of new facts in any branch of knowledge. The purpose
of research methodology section is to describe the procedure for conduction the study. It
includes research design, sample size, data collection and procedure of analysis of research
instrument.
Research always starts with a question or a problem. Its purpose is to find answers to
questions through the application of the scientific method. It is a systematic and intensive
study directed towards a more complete knowledge of the subject studied.
3.4 RESEARCH DESIGN:-
According to Kerlinger, “Research design n is the plan structure & strategy of investigation
conceived so as to obtain answers to research questions and to control variance.
According to Green and Tull, “A research design is the specification of methods and
procedures for acquiring the information needed. It is the overall operational pattern or
framework of the project that stipulates what information is to be collected from which
sources by what procedures.
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It is found that research design is purely and simply the framework for a study that
guides the collection and analysis of required data.
Research design is broadly classified into:-
Exploratory research design
Descriptive research design
Casual research design
This research is an exploratory research - The major purpose of this research is to understand
the working of treasury management.
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CHAPTER 4:
Company Profile
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Rajshree Industry
Contact Person Mr. Ramswaroop R Thard
Address 3c, Jaihind Building, Office No. : 4, Dr. Atmaram Merchant Road, Bhuleshwar, Mumbai
Phone +91-22-22019380/32995190
Fax +91-22-22010011
Email ID [email protected]
Website http://www.partywareproduct.com
Name of CEO Mr. Ramswaroop R Thard
Year of Establishment
2003
Nature of Business Manufacturer, Exporter & Supplier
No. of Employees 130
Annual Turnover Rs.40 Cr
Market Covered India, Australia, South Africa, UAE, Kuwait
RAJSHREE INDUSTRIES is a Mumbai based company that is actively engaged in the
manufacturing, exporting and supplying of various disposable food service products. As
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disposable ware is easy to use and have no maintenance they have demand worldwide. We
offer a range of disposable products like disposable Plastic Cups, Plates, Trays, Bowls,
containers, cup-lids, etc. we have been able to conquer an esteemed clientele in India as well
as in other parts of the world like India, USA, Kuwait, South Africa and Australia. Our
products are highly biodegradable and safe to use.
Our trademarks “Natraj” “Satyam” “Samrat”&"King" has a strong presence in the Indian
market. Our range of Plastic Dinnerware is made from first rate raw materials. The products
are made under hygienic conditions that assure their purity. They are available in different
sizes to meet the requirements of the clients. Our ultimate aim is to gain the goodwill,
customer confidence & meet all the deadlines set by our customer on the quality front and
provide them with the best of service. We are recognized as one of the Plastic Drinking Cups
Manufacturers and Food Packaging Trays Exporters from India.
Disposable products are greatly in demand because of their convenience of use. RAJSHREE
INDUSTRIES is a Mumbai based company that is a house of various disposable plastic
products. The different products that we provide include Party Disposable Plates,
Biodegradable Tablewares, Disposable Containers Disposable Bowls, Disposable Trays,
Disposable Cups, etc. We are growing at a consistent rate since our commencement in the
year 2003 under the guidance of our visionary CEO, Mr. Ramswaroop. R. Thard. We take
immense pleasure to be counted among the renowned Disposable Serving Trays
Manufacturers in Maharashtra, India.
Infrastructure::
our infrastructure includes the extruders, thermoforming machines, printing machine and the
variety of moulds. We have manufacturing facility located at four different locations, three at
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Daman & one at Bombay Nasik highway. We have a total constructed area of 60,000sq.ft.
Our machines are procured from best available source in India & China. We are equipped
with seven extruders with total combined capacity to extrude 1500kg/hr. We have eighteen
forming machines which are latest of its kind and are called as high speed all servo machines.
These machines can run at double the speed of the conventional machines. For the decoration
on the cups we have five printing machines (printing capacity 10 lac pieces / day) which can
do a job of six colors U.V.Printing (inks procured from Zellar, Germany). We are equipped
to print on PS and PP material.
Our Team::
The key members involved in managing our company chores are :
Account & Finance
Mr. Radheshyam. J. Thard and MR. Vijay Kumar Thard
Administration
Mr. RaghunandanThard and Mr. Sunil Sharma
Production & Quality Control
Mr. Naresh Kumar Thard, Mr. SarojBakshi and Mr. Harish Thard
Marketing
Mr. RamswaroopThard and Mr. Narayan Jha
Our Clients::We have established an esteemed clientele that includes:
1 GCMMF (Amul) 15 Patna Dairy
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2 Reliance Dairy Ltd 16 Muzaffarpur Dairy
3 Good Day Foods 17 Barauni Dairy
4 Nestle India Ltd 18 Barauni Dairy
5 Mc. Donalds 19 Dinshaw’s
6 Mother Dairy 20 Aristo Pharmaceuticals Ltd
7 Mother Dairy 21 Cafe Coffee Day
8 Baroda Dairy
9 Orissa Dairy
10 Walke Dairy
11 Metro Dairy
12 Hindustan Coco-Cola
Beverages
13 Aditya Birla Retail
14 Hindustan Lever Limited
Note::Apart we have a network of distributors in all the major cities in India and in various
parts of the world
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CHAPTER 5:
Treasury Management In Banking sector
5.1 Overview of Banking Industry:-
Introduction
Definition:-
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Britannica defines a bank as: - A bank is an institution that deals in money and its substitutes
and provides other financial services. Banks accept deposits and make loans and derive a
profit from the difference in the interest rates paid and charged, respectively.
The banking sector world over has come into increased focus in the recent years. The
problems in Southeast Asian economies, the recessionary trends in the Japanese economy,
the financial sector problems encountered in Latin American economies and more recently,
in some central European economies have provided an evidence of how a weak banking
sector can undermine confidence in macroeconomic policies. Developing countries including
India, have been focusing attention on introduction of structural reforms, stricter prudential
and supervisory of the financial system.
The banking sector accounts for over half of the assets of the financial sector and remains
dominant in India. The financial sector reforms as part of the broader canvas of economic
reforms, in the country, have led to strengthening of the banking sector in the last decade.
5.2 Principal Regulations of Indian Banking Sector :
Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934
Banking Regulation Act, 194
Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999
Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI’) Circulars & Notifications
Policy of Government for Foreign Direct Investment (‘FDI’) in Banking Sector
5.3 Reserve Bank of India- the Regulator:-
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The Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI’) is the primary regulator of banks in India, which are
governed by the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Banks are also acquired to conform to the
provisions of the Reserve Bank of India, 1934, the Foreign Exchange Management Act,
1999, the Companies Act, 1956 and the guidelines of the Foreign Exchange Dealers’
Association of India and the Fixed Income and Money Market Dealers Association.
The RBI continuously monitors developments in the financial markets in India and abroad
and takes monetary and administrative action as may be considered necessary. The RBI
conveys its policies and instructions to the banks through the circulars issued from time to
time.
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5.4 Treasury Management: An Overview
Webster defines treasury as "a place where stores of treasures are kept; the place of deposit,
care, and disbursement of collected funds." Moreover, if one considers the treasury functions
in one’s own organization; this definition would most likely broadly describe it. Treasury and
its responsibilities fall under the scope of the Chief Financial Officer.
In many organizations, the Treasurer will be responsible for the treasury function and also
holds the position of Chief Financial Officer. The CFO's responsibilities usually include
capital management, risk management, strategic planning, investor relations and financial
reporting.
In larger organizations, these responsibilities are usually separated between accounting and
treasury, with the controller and the treasurer each leading a functional area. Generally
accepted accounting principles and generally accepted auditing standards recommend the
division of responsibilities in areas of cash control and processing.
The specific tasks of a typical treasury function include cash management, risk
management, hedging and insurance management, accounts receivable management,
accounts payable management, bank relations and investor relations.
Following is a description of each of these tasks:
(a) Cash Management includes the control and care of the cash assets and liabilities of the
organization. This will include the selection of banks and bank accounts, investment
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vehicles, investment brokers, methods of borrowing, cash management information
systems, and the development and compliance with cash and investment policy and
processes. All of these pieces of the cash management puzzle need to be coordinated and
documented in a procedural manual in order to control the risk associated with cash.
(b) Risk Management includes customer credit management, vendor/contractor financial
analysis, liability claims management, business disaster recovery, and employee benefits
program risk. There are many risks associated with employee benefit plans, and treasury
should be an integral part of this process in order to mitigate and control this risk.
(c) Insurance Management is the process of negotiation of insurance policies to mitigate
the risks that the organization does not want to assume. The normal types of insurance
that are usually obtained are General Liability, Workers' Compensation, Automobile,
Director & Officers Liability, Fiduciary Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Crime
& Theft (Securities), Property, Transportation and Surety Bonds. Some companies
substitute self-insurance or captive insurance companies for some of this risk. If the
organization does not employ a full-time licensed insurance manager, they usually retain
an insurance broker to advice on insurance issues and obtain insurance in the open
market. Another method of risk mitigation is through hedging; this is normally used for
foreign exchange, interest rates and purchase of raw materials.
(d) Accounts Receivable Management includes the control of cash receipt systems within
the organization. This involves the management of customer disputes and deductions,
collections, and the systems and processes for control of accounts receivable. It will
usually include the establishment of credit card/purchasing card settlement systems.
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(e) Accounts Payable Management includes the control of the cash disbursement process.
This function will include vendor relations, disputes and negotiation of the disputes, and
the systems and processes for control of accounts payable to conserve cash while
maintaining positive vendor relationships.
(f) Bank Relations is that function which is a delicate balancing act due to the normal
practice of having more than one lender involved in most credit arrangements, and
meeting their needs for services and information from your organization. These lenders
must be considered a partner to your business and must be treated fairly.
(g) Investor Relations is that area of treasury's responsibilities that can have a great effect
on the value of publicly traded organizations. To provide expedient processing of stock
trades, a competent shareholder service provider should be retained by the organization.
The treasury function must work with all operations within the organization. The operational
functions they are working with should consider treasury to be an internal consultant, with
expertise in risk and finance.
Treasury is an exciting and interesting function of the organization that gets involved in
many diverse areas of the business that most other positions in the company do not get the
opportunity to be involved in. It is a natural progression in the career of many who start out
in credit management.
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5.5 Functions Of Treasury Department In Banks
Since 1990s, the prime movers of financial intermediaries and services have been the policies
of globalization and reforms. All players and regulators had been actively participating, only
with variation of the degree of participation, to globalize the economy. With burgeoning
forex reserves, Indian banks and Financial Institutions have no alternative but to be directly
affected by global happenings and trades. This is where; integrated treasury operations have
emerged as a basic tool for key financial performance.
A treasury department of a bank is concerned with the following functions:
(a) Reserve Management & Investment :
It involves (i) meeting CRR/SLR obligations, (ii) having an appropriate mix of investment
portfolio to optimize yield and duration. Duration is the weighted average ‘life’ of a debt
instrument over which investment in that instrument is recouped. Duration Analysis is used
as a tool to monitor the price sensitivity of an investment instrument to interest rate charges.
(b) Liquidity & Funds Management :
It involves (i) analysis of major cash flows arising out of asset-liability transactions (ii)
providing a balanced and well-diversified liability base to fund the various assets in the
balance sheet of the bank (iii) providing policy inputs to strategic planning group of the bank
on funding mix (currency, tenor & cost) and yield expected in credit and investment.
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(c) Funding :
The treasurer has the responsibility of exploring and selecting best source of finance for
funding long-and short term cash requirements of the business. While determining the best
source of finance, the treasurer must take various matters into consideration like debt
structure of the organization, structure of the debt portfolio, and advantages and
shortcoming of short-and long –term financing, etc.
(d) Working Capital Management :
The goal of the working capital management is to maintain good balance between current
assets and liabilities as per the requirements of the business. Since cash surplus as well as
cash deficit is not recommendable for and organization, the treasurer has the responsibility to
maintain an optimum cash level. A good working capital management maximizes the
liquidity and profitability of the organization.
(e) Better Investor Relations :
This involves establishing, strengthening and maintaining better interaction with interested
members of the financing and investing community such as:
Individual investors,
Institutional investors,
Professional Fund Managers, and
Foreign Investors etc.
(f) Good Banking Relationships :
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In general, selection of appropriate, desirable and suitable banking services is the
responsibility of the individuals responsible for cash management, who fall under the
treasury belt. This includes cash transmission and bank account and bank relationship
management.
(g) Short-term Investments :
Idle cash incurs opportunity costs as time passes. The excessive surplus cash in the business
may arise due to various factors such as cyclical, seasonal to temporary business trends. The
treasurer has the authority to utilize surplus cash of the organization in short-term beneficial
investments.
(h) Risk (Hedging) and Forex Management :
Due to increasing globalization of business, the importance of risk and forex management
has been spurring. The international treasurer has to ensure liquidity in foreign exchange
funds without compromising profitability. On the other hand, risk management (hedging)
involves the utilization of financial instruments to cushion the company against interest rate,
commodity and currency exposures.
(i) Establishing the Company Policy :
Functions of the treasurer, further includes establishing of company policy with respect to
decision on trade discounts and vendor payment ageing.
(j) Capital Structure Formulation :
The treasurer must formulate the capital structure for the organization in accordance to
business goals and implement the same. He has the responsibility of taking appropriate debt
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vs. equity financing decisions. A wrong or inappropriate capital structure decision may
through the business into irrecoverable losses.
(k) Insurance and Tax Planning :
A sound tax planning involves utilization of various provisions of the statute that enables the
organization to reduce the tax liability without violating the latter and spirit of the law. The
treasurer must identify and undertake such transactions that will result in
reduction/elimination of tax liabilities of the business.
(l) Internal Treasury Controls :
The treasurer acts as a cashier; undertakes the role of an authorized signatory on payment
cheques including the authority to approve such cheques. Even reconciliation of relevant
accounts is an important function of the treasurer.
(m) Asset Liability Management & Term Money :
ALM calls for determining the optimal size and growth rate of the balance sheet and also
prices the Assets and liabilities in accordance with prescribed guidelines. Successive
reduction in CRR rates and ALM practices by banks increase the demand for funds for tenor
of above 15 days (Term Money) to match duration of their assets.
(n) Risk Management :
Integrated treasury manages all market risks associated with a bank’s liabilities and assets.
The market risk of liabilities pertains to floating interest rate risk for assets & liability
mismatches. The market risk for assets can arise from (i) unfavorable change in interest rates
(ii) increasing levels of disintermediation (iii) securitization of assets (iv) emergence of credit
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derivates etc. while the credit risk assessment continues to rest with Credit Department, the
Treasury would monitor the cash inflow impact from changes in assets prices due to interest
rate changes by adhering to prudential exposure limits.
(o) Transfer Pricing :
Treasury is to ensure that the funds of the bank are deployed optimally, without sacrificing
yield or liquidity. An integrated Treasury unit has as idea of the bank’s overall funding needs
as well as direct access to various market ( like money market, capital market, forex market,
credit market). Hence, ideally treasury should provide benchmark rates, after assuming
market risk, to various business groups and product categories about the correct business
strategy to adopt.
(p) Derivative Products :
Treasury can developInterest Rate Swap (IRS) and other Rupee based/ cross- currency
derivative products for hedging Bank’s own exposures and also sell such products to
customers/other banks.
(q) Arbitrage :
Treasury units of banks undertake this by simultaneous buying and selling of the same type
of assets in two different markets to make risk-less profits.
(r) Capital Adequacy :
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This function focuses on quality of assets, with Return on Assets (ROA) being a key criterion
for measuring the efficiency of deployed funds. An integrated treasury is a major profit
centre. It has its own P&L measurement. It undertakes exposures through proprietary trading
(deals done to make profits out of movements in market interest/ exchange rates) that may
not be required for general banking.
(s) Coordination :
Banks do operate at more than one money market centers. All the centers undertake similar
transactions with differing volumes. There is a need to coordinate the activities of these
centers so that aberrations are avoided (situations where one center is lending and the other
one is borrowing at the same time). The task of coordination of foreign exchanges positions
is no different.
(t) Control and Development :
Treasury operates as the focal point of dealing operations. Dealing operations could include
cash/spot, forward, futures, options, interest and currency liability swaps, forward rate
agreements and the like. Treasury is the sole owner and performer of these transactions.
(u) Fraud Protection :
The decade of nineties has witnessed more frauds in trading than banking books. The amount
and variety of such embezzlements have been directly relatable to the operational level. The
ground level task of this kind is to be undertaken at the treasury.
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5.6 Objectives of the Treasury Management
Treasury of a commercial bank undertakes various operations in fulfillment of the following
objectives:
To take advantage of the attractive trading and arbitrage opportunities in the bond and
forex markets.
To deploy and invest the deposit liabilities, internal generation and cash flows from
maturing assets for maximum return on a current and forward basis consistent with
the bank’s risk policies/appetite.
To fund the balance sheet on current and forward basis as cheaply as possible taking
into account the marginal impact of these actions.
To effectively manage the forex assets and liabilities of the bank.
To manage and contain the treasury risks of the bank within the approved and
prudential norms of the bank and regulatory authorities.
To assess, advise and manage the financial risks associated with the non-treasury
assets and liabilities of the bank
To adopt the best practices in dealing, clearing, settlement and risk management in
treasury operations.
To maintain statutory reserves- CRR and SLR- as mandated by the RBI on current
and forward planning basis.
To deploy profitably and without compromising liquidity the clearing surpluses of the
bank
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To identify and borrow on the best terms from the market to meet the clearing deficits
of the bank
To offer comprehensive value-added treasury and related services to the bank’s
customers
To act as profit center for the bank.
5.7 Financial Aspect of Functions of a Treasurer
The Treasury in the finance department Deals with the liquid assets; since the treasurer is the
head of the treasury, he has a major responsibility of being a custodian of cash and other
liquid assets.
The financing aspect involves decision-making about the following:
How much to mobilize: The treasurer has to estimate the amount of funds that will
be required in future, and what part of this can be met by funds generated internally and how
much will have to be mobilized from external sources.
From where/whom to mobilize: A firm has access to different sources of finance,
both long-term and short-term. The treasurer has to decide which will be the most
appropriate source of finance for his firm.
At what costs: all funds have a cost associated with them (e.g., interest on loans,
debentures, etc. dividend on equity). The average cost of all the funds mobilized should be
kept as low as possible.
When to mobilize:The treasurer has to estimate when a shortfall of funds will occur
and raise funds accordingly.
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Investment Decision: The funds generated in the course of business need to be put to
further use. The investment decision relates to the selection of assets in which funds will be
invested by firm. The assets, which can be acquired, fall into two categories- (i) long-term
assets (ii) short-term or current assets- defined as those convertibles into cash usually within
a year.
Accordingly, asset selection decision is also of two types:
(i) the first involving long-term assets are popularly called capital budgeting, and
(ii) the second involving short-term assets or current assets is popularly called working
capital management.
A proper balance should be achieved between fixed and current assets. The money manager
has to decide which kind of funds (long-term or short-term) should be used for financing
either of the two kinds of (fixed or current) assets.
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5.8Organizational Structure of Treasury:
There is no standard structure for treasury department of a bank. Depending on the
responsibilities assigned and power delegated, it can be aptly structured. Typically, banks
maintain three independent tiers at the functional/operational level:-
Tier I – Dealing Desk (Front Office ) :
The dealers and traders in different markets- money, stock, debt, commodity, derivatives and
forex- operate in their respective areas. They are the first point if interface with other
participants in the market. The number of dealers depends on the size and frequency of the
operations. In case of larger in each bank, operations would be carried out by separate and
independent set of dealers in each market. But, for a relatively smaller treasury, operations
would be done by one or more dealers jointly in all the markets.
Tier II – Settlement Desk (Back Office):
Once the deals are concluded, it is for the back office to process and settle the deals. Indeed,
the back office undertakes settlement and reconciliation operations.
Tier III – Accounting, Monitoring and Reporting Office (Audit group):
This department looks after the activities relating to accounting, auditing and reporting.
Accountants’ record all deals in the books of accounts, while auditors and inspectors closely
monitor all deals and transactions done by the front and the back office, and send regular
reports to authorities concerned. This department independently inspects daily operations in
the treasury department to ensure internal/regulatory system and procedures.
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Head of Treasury
Chief Deale
r
Mkt. Intelligence Research
and
Head of Settlem
ents
Head of Accountin
g Monitoring
Manager
Funds/
Manager Settlements Documenta
Manager
Settlem
Accounts/
Monitori
Audit / Reportin
g
Dealer -
Rupee.
Dealer- For-
ex. Curre
Dealer-Corp.
Merchant/
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The three departments should be compartmentalized and they act independently. The heads
of each section reports directly to the Head of the Treasury. A treasury can have more
functional desk depending on the size and structure of the bank, and activities undertaken by
the bank. For example, the treasury may have separate individuals/managers for monitoring
funds movement, for monitoring of risks, developing and marketing innovative
instruments/products.
5.9 Elements of Treasury Management
1. Cash Reserve Ratio/Statutory Liquidity Ratio Management:
CRR, or cash reserve ratio, refers to the portion of deposits that banks have to maintain
with RBI. This serves two purposes. First, it ensures that a portion of bank deposits is
totally risk-free. Second, it enables RBI control liquidity in the system, and thereby,
inflation. Besides CRR, banks are required to invest a portion (8.25 per cent now) of their
deposits in government securities as a part of their statutory liquidity ratio (SLR)
requirements. The government securities (also known as gilt-edged securities or gilts) are
bonds issued by the Central government to meet its revenue requirements. Although the
bonds are long-term in nature, they are liquid as they have a ready secondary market.
2. Dated Government Securities:
The Government securities comprise dated securities issued by the Government of India
and state governments. The date of maturity is specified in the securities therefore it is
known as dated government securities.
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a) The Government borrows funds through the issue of long term-dated securities, the
lowest risk category instruments in the economy. These securities are issued through
auctions conducted by RBI, where the central bank decides the coupon or discount rate
based on the response received. Most of these securities are issued as fixed interest
bearing securities, though the government sometimes issues zero coupon instruments and
floating rate securities also. In one of its first moves to deregulate interest rates in the
economy, RBI adopted the market driven auction method in FY 1991-92. Since then, the
interest in government securities has gone up tremendously and trading in these securities
has been quite active. They are not generally in the form of securities but in the form of
entries in RBI's Subsidiary General Ledger (SGL).
b) The investors in government securities are mainly banks, FIs, insurance companies,
provident funds and trusts. These investors are required to hold a certain part of their
investments or liabilities in government paper. Foreign institutional investors can also
invest in these securities up to 100% of funds-in case of dedicated debt funds and 49% in
case of equity funds.
c) Till recently, a few of the domestic players used to trade in these securities with a
majority investing in these instruments for the full term. This has been changing of late,
with a good number of banks setting up active treasuries to trade in these securities.
Perhaps the most liquid of the long term instruments, liquidity in gilts is also aided by the
primary dealer network set up by RBI and RBI's own open market operations.
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Money Market Operations: The bank engages into a number of instruments that are
available in the Indian money market for the purpose of enhancing liquidity as well as
profitability. Some of these instruments are as follows:
A. Call Money Market
Call/Notice money is an amount borrowed or lent on demand for a very short period.
If the period is more than one day and up to 14 days it is called 'Notice money'
otherwise the amount is known as Call money'. Intervening holidays and/or Sundays
are excluded for this purpose. No collateral security is required to cover these
transactions.
B. Treasury Bills Market
In the short term, the lowest risk category instruments are the treasury bills. RBI issues
these at a prefixed day and a fixed amount.
There are four types of treasury bills:-
14-day T-bill- maturity is in 14 days. Its auction is on every Friday of every week.
The notified amount for this auction is Rs. 100 cr.
91-day T-bill- maturity is in 91 days. Its auction is on every Friday of every week.
The notified amount for this auction is Rs. 100 cr.
182-day T-bill - maturity is in 182 days. Its auction is on every alternate Wednesday
(which is not a reporting week). The notified amount for this auction is Rs. 100 cr.
364-Day T-bill- maturity is in 364 days. Its auction is on every alternate Wednesday
(which is a reporting week). The notified amount for this auction is Rs. 500 cr.
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C. Inter-Bank Term Money
Interbank market for deposits of maturity beyond 14 days and up to three months is
referred to as the term money market. The specified entities are not allowed to lend
beyond 14 days. The market in this segment is presently not very deep. The declining
spread in lending operations, the volatility in the call money market with
accompanying risks in running asset/liability mismatches, the growing desire for fixed
interest rate borrowing by corporate, the move towards fuller integration between forex
and money markets, etc. are all the driving forces for the development of the term
money market. These, coupled with the proposals for Nationalization of reserve
requirements and stringent guidelines by regulators/managements of institutions, in the
asset/liability and interest rate risk management, should stimulate the evolution of term
money market sooner than later. The DFHI, as a major player in the market, is putting
in all efforts to activate this market.
The development of the term money market is inevitable due to the following reasons
Declining spread in lending operations
Volatility in the call money market
Growing desire for fixed interest rates borrowing by corporate
Move towards fuller integration between forex and money market
Stringent guidelines by regulators/management of the institutions
D. Certificates of Deposits
The scheduled commercial banks have been permitted to issue certificate of deposit
without any regulation on interest rates. This is also a money market instrument and
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unlike a fixed deposit receipt, it is a negotiable instrument and hence it offers
maximum liquidity. As such, it has secondary market too. Since the denomination is
very high, it is suitable to mainly institutional investors and companies.
E. Commercial Paper (CP)
Commercial Paper (CP) is an unsecured money market instrument issued in the form of
a promissory note. CP was introduced in India in 1990 with a view to enabling highly
rated corporate borrowers to diversify their sources of short-term borrowings and to
provide an additional instrument to investors.
Highly rated corporate borrowers, primary dealers (PDs) and satellite dealers
(SDs) and all-India financial institutions (FIs) which have been permitted to raise
resources through money market instruments under the umbrella limit fixed by Reserve
Bank of India are eligible to issue CP.
A company shall be eligible to issue CP provided - (a) the tangible net worth of
the company, as per the latest audited balance sheet, is not less than Rs. 4 crore; (b) the
working capital (fund-based) limit of the company from the banking system is not less
than Rs.4 crore and (c) the borrower account of the company is classified as a Standard
Asset by the financing bank/s.
F. Ready Forward Contracts
It is a transaction in which two parties agree to sell and repurchase the same security.
Under such an agreement the seller sells specified securities with an agreement to
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repurchase the same at a mutually decided future date and a price. Similarly, the buyer
purchases the securities with an agreement to resell the same to the seller on an agreed
date in future at a predetermined price. Such a transaction is called a Repo when
viewed from the prospective of the seller of securities (the party acquiring fund) and
Reverse Repo when described from the point of view of the supplier of funds. Thus,
whether a given agreement is termed as Repo or a Reverse Repo depends on which
party initiated the transaction.
G. Commercial Bills
Bills of exchange are negotiable instruments drawn by the seller (drawer) of the goods
on the buyer (drawee) of the goods for the value of the goods delivered. These bills are
called trade bills. These trade bills are called commercial bills when they are accepted
by commercial banks. If the bill is payable at a future date and the seller needs money
during the currency of the bill then he may approach his bank for discounting the bill.
The maturity proceeds or face value of discounted bill, from the drawee, will be
received by the bank. If the bank needs fund during the currency of the bill then it can
rediscount the bill already discounted by it in the commercial bill rediscount market at
the market related discount rate.
The RBI introduced the Bills Market scheme (BMS) in 1952 and the scheme was later
modified into New Bills Market scheme (NBMS) in 1970. Under the scheme,
commercial banks can rediscount the bills, which were originally discounted by them,
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with approved institutions (viz., Commercial Banks, Development Financial
Institutions, Mutual Funds, Primary Dealer, etc.).
With the intention of reducing paper movements and facilitate multiple rediscounting,
the RBI introduced an instrument called Derivative UsancePromissory Notes (DUPN).
So the need for physical transfer of bills has been waived and the bank that originally
discounts the bills only draws DUPN. These DUPNs are sold to investors in convenient
lots of maturities (from 15 days up to 90 days) on the basis of genuine trade bills,
discounted by the discounting bank.
5.10 Nature of Treasury Assets and Liabilities:
Bank’s balance sheet consists of treasury assets and liabilities on the one hand and non-
treasury assets and liabilities on the other. There is a clear distinction between the two
groups. In general, if a specific assets or liability is created through a transaction in the inter-
bank market and/or can be assigned or negotiated, it becomes a part of the treasury portfolio
of the bank.
Treasury assets are marketable or tradable subject to meeting legal obligations such as
payment of applicable stamp duty, etc. another characteristic of treasury assets is that they
can (and often are required to be marked to market. An example of treasury asset/liability
which is created by corporate/treasury actions/decisions on funding/deployment but is not
tradable, is the Inter-bank Participation Certificate.
Loans and advances are specific contractual agreements between the bank and its borrowers,
and do not form a part of the treasury assets, although these are obligations to bank. (They
can however, be securitized and sold in the market. If a bank were to take a position in such
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securitized debts, it would become part of treasury activity). On the other hand, an
investment in G-Secs can be traded in the market. It is, therefore, a treasury asset.
Treasury liabilities are distinguished from other liabilities by the fact that they are
borrowings from the money (or bond) market. Deposits (current and savings accounts and
fixed deposits) are not treasury liabilities, as they are not created by market borrowing.
List of Bank’s Treasury Products:
A. Domestic Treasury
1. Assets Products/ Instruments :
Call/Notice Money lending.
Term money Lending/Inter-bank Deposits.
Investment in CDs.
Commercial Paper.
Inter-bank Participation Certificates.
Derivative Usance promissory Notes/ Bankers’ or Corporate Acceptances.
Reverse Repos/CBLO- backed Lending through CCIL.
SLR Bonds (notified as such by the RBI).
(a) Issued by the Government of India as securities and T-bills.
(b) Issued by State Governments.
(c) Guaranteed by Government of India.
(d) Guaranteed by State Governments.
Non-SLR Bonds (issued by).
(a) Financial Institutions.
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(b) Banks/NBFCs (Tier II Capital).
(c) Corporate.
(d) State-level Enterprises.
(e) Infrastructure Projects.
Assets-backed Securities (PTCs).
Private Placements.
Floating Rate Bonds.
Tax-free Bonds.
Preference Shares.
Listed/Unlisted Equity.
Mutual Funds.
2. Liability Products/Instruments :
Call/Notice Money Borrowing.
Term Money Borrowing.
CD Issues.
Inter-bank Participation Certificates.
Repos/CBLO-backed Borrowing through CCIL.
Refinance (RBI, SIDBI, NABARD, Exim Bank, NHB).
Tier II Bonds (issued by bank).
B. Foreign Exchange
1. Interbank :
Spot Currencies.
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Cash.
Tom.
Forward and Forward-Forward (simultaneous purchase and sale of a currency for two
different forward maturities).
Foreign Currency Placements, Investments and Borrowings (in accordance with RBI
guidelines).
2. Merchant(Initiated In Branches, Arranged By For-ex Treasury)
Preshipment Foreign Credit (PCFC).
Foreign Currency Bills Purchased (FCBP).
Foreign Currency Loans (FCLs)/FCNR (B) Loans.
Post shipment Foreign Credit (PSFC).
External Commercial Borrowing (ECB).
C. Derivatives
Interest Rate Swaps (IRSs).
Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs).
Interest Rate Options.
Currency Options.
D. Certain corporate assets such as investments in subsidiaries and joint ventures are
reckoned as treasury assets although they are not traded and are permanent in nature.
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5.11 Treasury Products & Services:
1. Forward Contract:
It is a contract between the bank and its customers in which the exchange/conversion of
currencies would take place at future date at a rate of exchange in advance under the contract.
The essential idea of entering into a forward contract is to peg the price and thereby avoid the
price risk.
Forward Rates = Spot Rate +/- Premium/Discount
2. Forward Rate Agreement (FRA):
An FRA is an agreement between the Bank and a Customer to pay or receive the difference
(called settlement money) between an agreed fixed rate (FRA rate) and the interest rate
prevailing on stipulated future date (the fixing date) based on a notional amount for an agreed
period (the contract period). In short, this is a contract whereby interest rate is fixed now for
a future period. The basic purpose of the FRA is to hedge the interest rate risk.
For example, if a borrower is going to borrow FC loan for 6 months at LIBOR rate after 3
months, he can buy an FRA whereby he can fix interest rate for the loan.
3. Interest Rate Swap(IRS) :
It is a financial transaction in which two counterparties agree to exchange streams of cash
flows throughout the life of contract in which one party pays a fixed interest rate on a
notional principal and the other pays a floating rate on the same sum. The basic purpose of
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IRS is to hedge the interest rate risk of constituents and enable them to structure the
asset/liability profile best suited to their respective cash flows.
4. Currency Swap:
It is an agreement between two parties to exchange obligations in different currencies at the
beginning, during the tenure and at the end of the transaction. At the start, initial principal is
exchanged, though not obligatory. Periodic interest payments (either fixed or floating) are
exchanged throughout the life of the contract. The principal is exchanged invariably on
termination at the exchange rate decided at the start of the transaction. By means of currency
swap, the counterparties can reduce the cost of funding.
5. Option:
It is a contract between the bank and its customers in which the customer has the right to
buy/sell a specified amount of underlying asset at fixed price within a specific period of time,
but has no obligation to do so. In this contract, the customer has to pay specified amount
upfront to the counterparty which is known as premium. This is in contrast of the forward
contract in which both parties have a binding contract.
This is a facility offered to customers to enable them to book Forward Contracts in Cross
Currencies at a target rate or price. This facility helps the customer to en cash the currency
movements in late European market, New York market and early Asian market. The
minimum amount of the contract is 250,000/- in respective base currencies (for e.g. USD,
EUR & GBP).
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5.12 Types of Risks Associated With Treasury and Their Mitigation
Risk profile of the treasury activities consists of two broad categories viz. Financial Risk and
Operational Risk. Financial risks include market risks (interest rate risk, price risk, basis
risk), credit risks, liquidity risks, etc. Operational risks include systemic risk, compliance
risk, legal risks, IT risks, fraud risks, etc. For mitigation of such risks, various prudential
guidelines prescribed by the regulators and internal policies and procedures laid down by the
management are to be followed
1. Operational Risk :
This covers the entire gamut of the transaction cycle from dealing to custody. Operational
risk can again be divided into those arising from:
System deficiencies, authorizations, based on approved delegation of powers, must
integrate with work and document flows. This ensures that individual payments and
deliveries by the bank are entirely deal/transaction supported.
Non-compliance with laid-down procedures and authorizations for dealing, settlement
and custody.
Fraudulent practices involving deals and settlements.
IT involving software quality, hardware uptime.
Legal risks due to inadequate definitions and coverage of covenants and
responsibilities of the bank and counterparty in contracts and agreements.
Mitigation
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Dealers must operate strictly within the single deal, portfolio and prudential limits set
for the instrument and counterparty. Stop loss and risk norms of duration and value at
risk should be adhered to all times.
No deviation from approved and implemented work and document flows should be
allowed.
The necessary authorizations must accompany documents as they pass from one stage
of the transaction cycle to the next.
Delegation of powers must be strictly adhered to. Deals or transactions exceeding
powers must be immediately and formally ratified in accordance with
management/board edicts on ratification.
The prescribed settlement systems in each product/instrument and market must be
followed. Deviations from delivery and payment practices should not be allowed.
Computer systems- hardware, networks and software should have adequate backups.
They should be put through periodic stress tests to determine their ability to cope with
increased volumes and external data combinations.
Custodian’s creditworthiness is paramount in demat systems of records of ownership
and transfer. Custodial relationships should be only with those with the highest credit
rating.
Counterparty authorizations/powers of attorney must be kept current.
The list of approved brokers should be reviewed periodically to satisfy the bank’s
credit standards and ethics. In equity transactions, the broker is the counterparty.
Settlement must be of the delivery against payment type.
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Deal, transaction and legal documentation should be adequate to protect the bank,
especially in one-off transactions and structured deals.
2. Financial Risks: The following identifies and defines individual financial risks:
(a) Credit Risk:
The oldest of all financial risks in its simplest form, refers to the possibility of the issuer of a
debt instrument being unable to honor his interest payments and/or principal repayment
obligations. But, in modern financial markets, it includes non-performance by counterparty in
a variety of off-balance sheet contracts such as forward contracts, interest rate swaps and
currency swaps and counterparty risk in the inter-bank market. These have necessitated
prescribing maximum exposure limits for individual counterparties for fund and non-fund
exposures.
Mitigation
Better credit appraisal. Careful analysis of cash flows of the business before
investing.
Investing only in rated instruments
Risk pricing
Credit enhancement through margin arrangements, escrow accounts etc.
Guarantees/letters of credit from rated entities
Adequate financial and/or physical assets as security
Exposure limits by counterparty, industry, location, business group, on and off
balance sheet
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Diversification by industry, sector, location and so on
Exposure limits for individual bank counterparties for funded/non-funded assets
Reputation and image of counterparties
Collateralization of transactions through repos
(b) Liquidity Risk:
An asset that cannot be converted into cash when needed is liquidity note which is the normal
characteristic of the vast majority of bonds.
There is also the risk of scarcity of funds in the market. This could happen, for example,
when the RBI deliberately tightens liquidity, by increasing CRR, selling securities or forex.
A third situation is when a bank’s creditworthiness becomes suspect and there are no willing
lenders, even though there is no liquidity shortage in the market.
Mitigation
Increase the proportion of investments in liquid securities
Increase the proportion of investments in near-maturity high quality instruments
Maintain credit rating, reputation and image
Securitize loan portfolio of large as well as small borrowers
(c) Interest Rate Risk(Balance Sheet):
This affects both the assets and liabilities of a bank. On an overall basis, the maturity gaps
between assets and liabilities lead to the risk of a contraction of spreads if interest rates fall
and assets mature before liabilities or interest rates rise and liabilities mature before assets.
Apart from interest rate risk originating from the disparity in the maturities of assets and
liabilities, there is also basis risk, because interest rate determination may differ.
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For example, if assets are MIBOR-linked (floating rate), while liabilities are fixed rate and
MIBOR falls, assets yields also do, compressing the spreads.
Mitigation of basis risk will involve converting (in the above instance) assets to fixed rate (or
converting liabilities to MIBOR-linked). Instruments used are interest rate swaps, futures and
FRAs.
(d) Interest Rate Risk (Investment/Trading Book):
The prices of bonds are affected by changes in interest rates. When interest rates come down,
their prices go up. The opposite happens when interest rates rise. The most price-affected
bonds in response to rate movements are those of long maturity- indeed maturity and price
changes are strongly positively correlated.
Duration measures the price sensitivity of a bond to changes in interest rates. Increasing
duration makes the bond portfolio more sensitive to interest rates while decreasing duration
reduces it.
As bond prices and interest rates are inversely related, if the bank expects interest rates to
fall, subject to market liquidity, it will have to increase duration by buying long-dated
securities. Conversely, in anticipation of a rise in interest rates, the bank will lower duration
by selling long-dated securities.
(e) Value-At-Risk (VAR):
Value-at-risk indicates the possible maximum loss which will be suffered in a specified
period and at a specified confidence level from a fall in the price of a security (or exchange
rate), given historic data on the price behavior of the security (exchange rate) or assessment
of likely future market movements.
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The concept is applied to calculate the risk content of an individual security, foreign
exchange position, equity share or a portfolio of these instruments.
(f) Forex (Market) Risk:
The forex market is probably the most consistently volatile of all financial markets. While it
offers enormous scope for making profits, the other side of the coin is the risk of big losses
from unexpected swings in exchange rates. This necessitates and effective forex risk
management system involving:
1. Fixing exposure limits by currency and maturity
2. Continuous market monitoring with reference to the bank’s open positions; and
3. Closing loss positions, if stop loss limits/VAR are breached.
For supporting the above, it is necessary to have adequate data gathering systems in place to
measure currency wise exposures and their maturities.
The following determine the forex risk exposure of the bank:
1. Open Positions.
2. Gap (Interest Rate/ Swap) Risk.
3. Counterparty (Credit) Risk.
4. Settlement Risk.
5. Country Risk.
6. Value-at-Risk.
7. Operational Risk.
8. Legal Risk.
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(g) Settlement Risk:
Settlement risk arising from time differences between trading zones, which may result in one
of the parties to a transaction having to settle ahead of the other party, i.e., debit and credit
are not synchronized. To some extent (but not completely), this is mitigated by the exposure
limits fixed for each inter-bank counterparty.
(h) Country Risk:
Country risk is the possibility that a country or bank in a country will not be able to honour
obligations due to shortage of foreign exchange or political risk.
The RBI has asked banks to measure monitor and control country exposures. It requires
specific responsibility and accountability in the organization structures of the bank for
country risk management.
(i) Legal Risk:
Standard agreements govern forex contracts in the domestic and international markets, the
main being:
i. For spot and forward foreign exchange - International Foreign Exchange Nostro
Agreement (IFENA)
ii. Foreign Exchange Options – International Currency Options Agreement (ICOM).
iii. All others including Derivatives – Internal Swap Dealers’ Association Master
Agreement ( ISDA Master Agreement)
Disputes and arbitration in international courts/tribunals will be governed by
covenants and obligations in the above agreements.
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(j) Operational Risk and Concurrent Audit:
As required by the RBI, the banks carry out concurrent audit of all forex transactions.
Auditors are required to give daily and monthly reports covering:
Compliance with approved open position limits.
Compliance with overnight exposure limits.
Compliance with aggregate and individual gap limits.
Compliance with value at risk norms.
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5.13 Risk Management: RBI Guidelines/Norms
The RBI has circulated detailed guidance notes on Market Risk Management, Asset Liability
Management and Credit Risk Management. According to these,
(a) Banks are required to send monthly reports covering liquidity mismatches and
interest rate sensitivity.
(b) Banks are required to pay special attention to liquidity risk and management and
monitor the following:
Call Borrowing/Lending
Purchased Funds vis-à-vis liquid Assets
Core Deposits vis-à-vis Core Assets, i.e., CRR, SLR and Loans
Duration of Liabilities and Investments
Maximum Cumulative Outflows across all time bands
Commitment Ratio – on and off B/S
Swapped Funds Ratio, i.e., extent of liabilities from forex sources.
Risk management in banks
a) Banks have an Assets-Liability Management Committee (ALCO), which manages
gap, interest rate, liquidity and currency risks of the treasury and non-treasury
balance sheets.
b) The banks submit monthly statements to the Board and RBI on liquidity
mismatches and interest rate sensitivity.
c) Stop loss levels are fixed for both SLR and non-SLR securities.
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d) Bank undertakes concurrent audits of securities and funds management
transactions. These findings/reports are put up to the Audit Committee of the
Board every quarter.
e) The investment committee reviews the investment portfolio every half-year, with
emphasis on rating migration and portfolio quality.
f) The treasury Department is subject to periodic inspection.
g) The panel of brokers is reviewed annually.
h) The software package used by treasury is system-audited at regular intervals to test
its ability to cope with new products and instruments, scale of operations and
outlying data and conditions.
i) The functions of front-office, settlement back-office, mid-office and accounts are
completely segregated.
j) Deals are backed by deal slips, and office memos containing approvals by
competent authority.
k) Defaults/arrears in interest/principal on bonds are monitored and reported to
appropriate authorities.
l) A bank will fully comply with all the RBI’s guidelines, regulations and rules
governing the investment portfolio.
m) The RBI has now finalized norms for risk-based internal audit system from the
first quarter of 2003.
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5.14 Future Scope/Challenges In Treasury Management
Treasury Management is increasingly being viewed as a specialized function in many
corporate companies, and has already been assigned a separate status from the general
financial functions. Treasury management asks for expertise on capital markets, money
markets, instruments & investment avenues, treasury & risk management and related areas.
In this increasingly integrated and interdependent financial environment, the links between
money and capital markets have become extremely close. To better understand this inter-
linking and manage business in a better way, firms are hiring persons who can handle
Treasury Management and forecast rates accurately.
Career Prospects in Treasury Management:
India is changing from an economy with strong socialistic leanings to a free-market
one where the barriers to trade, both domestic and international, are fast vanishing. The
transformation process that began in the early 1990s has been put into overdrive. While
foreign firms are busy trying to get a foothold on Indian soil, Indian companies do not lag
behind in attempting to penetrate foreign markets. There has been an unexpected rise in
exports as well as imports, which has resulted in volatile exchange rates and more financial
constraints. Given the inconsistency of exchange rates, the corporate and banking worlds are
paying greater attention to treasury and foreign exchange management. Careers in treasury
and forex management have suddenly been pitch-forked into the limelight. Banks have been
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scouting campuses of Indian B-schools with a view to recruiting for their treasury and forex
functions.
Opportunities chiefly exist in the areas of:
Corporate Finance:Many Indian corporate are doing business internationally. They are also
raising funds abroad, exposing them to greater risk due to deregulation of interest and
exchange rates. To minimize these risks, it is necessary to handle forex and treasury related
functions carefully. If neglected, it may lead to profit erosion. Corporate are on the look out
for people with professional qualifications to handle all aspects pertaining to treasury and
for-ex management.
Banks and other Financial Institutions: Volatile exchange rate regimes and fickle interest
rates are posing stiff challenges to financial institutions and banking organizations. They are
also being offered myriad opportunities with the inter-linking of financial markets.
Inconsistencies in lending rates require continuous monitoring and management of the asset-
liability gap of these institutions. Clients are transacting more and more business with banks
in foreign currencies. Thus, banks and financial institutions are also seeking professionally
qualified persons to look after the treasury and forex management functions.
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Treasury and For - ex Consultancy : Corporate and banks are roping in experienced
professionals as consultants for risk management. Opportunities as consultants are not only
well paid but also satisfying. However, these positions demand sound experience. It is very
natural to be curious about the kind of openings or careers that Treasury and For-
exManagement offers. Some of them are:
a. Treasury Analyst
As a Treasury Analyst, you will support the Cash Management and Capital Markets
department of the company. The candidate is expected to have a degree in business/finance
and should demonstrate advanced analytical and system skills. He should be able to use these
skills to develop sophisticated models and apply them to the treasury and accounting
systems. Exposure to treasury workstation, ledger system, reporting and billing systems is an
additional advantage.
b. Functional Support Analyst
Functional Support Analysts are responsible for directly supporting treasury
workstation functions. This includes modifying existing processes, clinching new business
deals, reviewing old processes, upgrading systems, maintaining database, research of
accounting data, end user training, and security control. They are also responsible for the
documentation of all support processes. Financial
Support Analysts will also respond to client support requests by resolving and diagnosing
problems, and escalate (refer) complex ones to appropriate levels of expertise. They also
maintain knowledge about Treasury banking systems and will serve as back-up support.
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c. Cash Analyst
Cash Analysts are responsible for every day cash management for the company and
its subsidiaries. They are also responsible for bank charge analysis, troubleshooting of credit
card and direct debit problems as well as maintaining a database of quarterly and ad-hoc
payments made. They will also serve as support to Treasury Operations, and assist in credit
card charge backs and drafting of monthly reports. Cash Analysts will also follow up on sales
and refinance distributions from partnerships.
d. Treasury Analyst-Business Solutions
In this capacity, treasury analysts will act as visionaries for world class business
process reengineering. They will focus their efforts on creating a world-class treasury
organization through documentation of business process flows and analysis of Treasury
functions. They will analyze the benefits of using existing and future platforms to ensure that
the Treasury Organization is an enterprise solution and is compatible with existing Treasury
processes and requirements. They also use their knowledge of treasury/business functions in
association with IT experience to transform business requirements into software solutions.
e. Trade Specialist
The Trade Specialist provides support to Investment Managers and Clients through
timely and accurate processing of trade instructions and related transactions. The varieties of
trade instructions that require daily processing include global and domestic securities,
derivatives, foreign exchange transactions and transfer of currency between accounts. They
will maintain and strengthen the account’s relationship while minimizing risk and
maximizing profitability.
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5.15 Role Of Information Technology In Treasury Management
1. Negotiated Dealing System
Negotiated Dealing System (NDS) is an electronic platform for facilitating dealing in
government securities and money market instruments.
The Indian debt market has gone through sweeping changes with the introduction of the
Negotiated Dealing System (NDS). This is an electronic trading platform for the following
instruments:
Government of India Dated Securities
State Governments securities
T-bills
Call/Notice/Term Money
Commercial Paper
Certificates of Deposit
Repos
Membership of the NDS is open to all institutions which are members of INFINET and have
Subsidiary General Ledger (SGL) accounts with the RBI. At present, this covers the
following:
Banks
Financial Institutions
Primary Dealers
Insurance Companies
Mutual Funds
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Banks and Primary Dealers are obliged to become members of the NDS. NDS facilitates
electronic submission of bids/application by members for Primary issuance of government
securities by RBI through auction and floatation. The system of submission of physical SGL
transfer form for deals done between members on implementation of NDS has been
discontinued. NDS also provides interface to Securities Settlement System (SSS) of Public
Debt Office, RBI, and thereby facilitating settlement of transactions in Government
Securities including treasury bills, both outright and repos.
NDS use INFINET, a closed user group network as communication backbone. Hence,
membership to the NDS is restricted to members of INFINET. Membership of INFINET
entails holding SGL and/or current account with RBI or as may be prescribed from time to
time.
2. Other Trading Platforms/System
Trading is done electronically through networked computers/workstations. Market
participants and players are part of secure WAN and make bids and offers, be it forex, bonds
or equities. The system electronically matches bids and offers. Current examples of
electronic trading platforms are those of NSE, BSE and foreign exchange (through the
Reuters electronic dealing system).
3. Straight-through-processing (STP)
STP is latest technological wave to hit financial markets. This electronic system enables
trading, documentation, clearing, settlement, and custody on a single, end-to-end hardware
and software platform.
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This is a natural extension of electronic trading whereby individual traders, once approved
and authorized by the buyer and seller, are settled automatically by the system through its
connectivity with a Clearing House. Buyers receive securities in their custodial accounts and
sellers receive funds.
4. Electronic Form
a. Settlement:Post-approval of a deal, the system used, credits and debits the respective cash
and securities accounts of the buyer and seller as required. In G-Secs, the NDS enables this
through the intermediation of the CCIL.
For-ex deals in USD/INR and cross-currencies, i.e., USD/JPY, Euro/USD, GBP/USD, etc.,
are also settled electronically through CCIL or SWIFT, through transfers of funds from and
to Nostro accounts.
b.Custody:Electronic records of ownership of securities are held by DPS. Such securities do
not exist in physical form. The SGL depository of the RBI maintains custody and ownership
of SLR securities in electronic form.
c.Conversion of Physical Securities to Demat:The RBI and SEBI have now made it
mandatory for almost all securities to be in demat, i.e., electronic record of ownership and
transactions in securities, maintained with a depository participant (DP), which, in turn,
maintains an account with the apex depository (NSDL,CDSL, etc.)
Similarly, Real Time Gross Settlement [RTGS] has already been introduced, which is a
completely electronically propelled countrywide payment system.
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COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO BANKS
AND
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STATE BANK OF INDIA
OVERVIEW OF TREASURY MANAGEMENT IN SBI
SBI's relationships with over 700 correspondent banks are leveraged in extracting
maximum value from treasury operations. SBI's treasury operations are channeled through
the Rupee Treasury, the For-ex Treasury and the Treasury Management Group.
The Rupee Treasury deals in the domestic money and debt markets while the For-ex
Treasury deals mainly in the local foreign exchange market. The TMG monitors the
investment, risk and asset-liability management aspects of the Bank's overseas offices.
RUPEE TREASURY
The Rupee Treasury carries out the bank’s rupee-based treasury functions in the
domestic market. Broadly, these include asset liability management, investments and trading.
The Rupee Treasury also manages the bank’s position regarding statutory requirements like
the cash reserve ratio (CRR) and the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR), as per the norms of the
Reserve Bank of India.
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PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Asset Liability Management (ALM): The ALM function comprises management of
liquidity, maturity profiles of assets and liabilities and interest rate risks.
Investments: SBI offers financial support through a wide spectrum of investment
products that can substitute the traditional credit avenues of a corporate like commercial
papers, preference shares, non-convertible debentures, securitized paper, fixed and
floating rate products. SBI invests in primary and secondary market equity as per its
own discretion.
These products allow you to leverage the flexibility of financial markets, enable
efficient interest risk management and optimize the cost of funds. They can also be
customized in terms of tenors and liquidity options.
SBI invests in these instruments issued by your company, thus providing you a
dynamic substitute for traditional credit options. The Rupee Treasury handles the bank’s
domestic investments.
TRADING
The bank’s trading operations are unmatched in size and value in the domestic market
and cover government securities, corporate bonds, call money and other instruments. SBI is
the biggest lender in call.
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FOREX TREASURY (FX)
The SBI is the country’s biggest and most important Forex Treasury, both in the
Interbank and Corporate Foreign Exchange markets, and deals with all the major corporate
and institutions in all the financial centers in India and abroad.The bank’s team of seasoned,
skilled and professional dealers can tailor customized solutions that meet your specific
requirements and extract maximum value out of each market situation.
The bank’s dealing rooms provide 24-hour trading facilities and employs state-of-the-
art technology and information systems. SBI’s relationships with over 700 correspondent
banks and institutions across the globe enhance the strength of the Forextreasury.The FX
Treasury can also structure and facilitate execution of derivatives including long term rupee-
foreign currency swaps, rupee-foreign currency interest rate swaps and cross currency swaps.
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OVERSEAS TREASURY OPERATION:-
Treasury Management Group
The Treasury Management Group (TMG) is a part of the International Banking
Group (IBG) and functions under the Chief General Manager (Foreign Offices). As the name
implies the department monitors the management of treasury functions at SBI’s foreign
offices including asset liability management, investments and forex operations.
Products and Services
Asset Liability Management (ALM): The ALM function comprises management of
liquidity, maturity profiles of assets and liabilities and interest rate risks at the foreign offices.
Investments: Monitoring of investment operations of the foreign offices of the bank is
one of the principal activities of TMG. The main objectives of investment operations at our
foreign offices, apart from compliance with the regulatory requirements of the host country,
are (a) safety of the funds invested,
(b) Optimization of profits from investment operations and
(c) Maintenance of liquidity. Investment operations are conducted in accordance with the
investment policy for foreign offices formulated by TMG.
The activities include appraisal of the performance of the foreign offices broad
parameters such as income earned from investment operations, composition and size of the
portfolio, performance vis-à-vis the budgeted targets and the market value of the portfolio.
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Forex monitoring: Monitoring of forex operations of our foreign offices is done with
the objective of optimizing of returns while managing the attendant risks.
Forex and Interest rate (Foreign Currency) derivatives: TMG also plays an important
role in structuring, marketing, facilitating execution of foreign currency derivatives including
currency options, long term rupee - foreign currency swaps, foreign currency interest rate
swaps, cross currency swaps and forward rate agreements. Commodity hedging is one of the
recent activities taken up by TMG.
Reciprocal Lines: The department is also responsible for maintenance of reciprocal
lines with international banks.
Portfolio Management & Custodial Services
The Portfolio Management Services Section (PMS) of SBI has been set up to handle
investment and regulatory related concerns of Institutional investors functioning in the area
of Social Security. The PMS forms part of the Treasury Dept. of SBI, and is based at
Mumbai.
PMS was set up exclusively for management of investments of Social Security funds and
custody of the securities related thereto. In the increasingly complex regulatory and
investment environment of today, even the most sophisticated investors are finding it
difficult to address day to day investment concerns, such as
Adherence to stated investment objectives
Security selection quality considerations
Conformity to policy constraints
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Investment returns
The team manning the PMS Section consists of highly experienced officers of SBI, who
have the required depth of knowledge to handle large investment portfolios and address the
concern of large investors. The capabilities of the team range from Investment Management
and Custody to Information Reporting.
1.5ANALYSIS OF SBI
SBI is the first treasury operator.
SBI bank has an integrated treasury management; they don’t have any competitors as
such because it is well maintained and functioned.
SBI has their own procedure for treasury management which is followed very well by
them. Percentage of income is not disclosed by them to anyone. SBI do follow RBI
guidelines for treasury management properly which they think that it is well formulated.
Risk involved in treasury management for SBI is the same like operational risk and
financial risk and they aim for a well-integrated and innovative management of treasury
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with low risk and proper function of treasury assets and liabilities. It also has good career
opportunities.
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ICICI Bank
Treasury Department of ICICI Bank
ICICI BANK is the very consistent player in the new private sector banks. New private
sector banks to withstand the competition frompublic sector banks came up with innovative
products and superiorservice.Within this business, the bank has three main product areas -
Foreign Exchange and Derivatives, Local Currency Money Market & Debt Securities, and
Equities. With the liberalization of the financial markets in India, corporate need more
sophisticated risk management information, advice and product structures. These and fine
pricing on various treasury products are provided through the bank's Treasury team. To
comply with statutory reserve requirements, the bank is required to hold 25% of its deposits
in government securities. The Treasury business is responsible for managing the returns and
market risk on this investment portfolio. ICICI BANK earned from the ‘Interest from
Advances’ 51.14 % ‘Interest from Investment’ 27.12 %, bank earned commission
exchange and brokerage of 15.25 %. These are the major earningsources of the bank. Bank
also earned from the Forex and Derivatives and some other Interest Income.
Bank spent 39.75 % on Interest Expense, 30.27 % on OperatingExpense and 14.58 % on
Provision. Bank also spent Dividend andTax on dividend, Loss on Investment, Tax.
As we discuss above that balancing is must between these two foreveryorganization
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especially in the era of globalization where thereare stiff competition among various market
players.
ICICI Bank’s treasury income through sale of investments saw a profit of Rs256 crore in
2009 against a loss of Rs77.6 crore in the corresponding of last year fiscal while income from
foreign exchange and derivative business dipped to Rs137.8 crore from Rs157.4 crore.
ANALYSIS OF ICICI:
Treasury management of ICICI Bank is managing assets and liabilities of
treasury, managing deposits and advances, managing working capital and also managing
foreign currency. But foreign exchange is managed at a higher risk.
The bank has an integrated organization structure where in they have sub processes at
each level.
They believe in customer satisfaction most rather than competition in treasury market.
The procedures for treasury management operation in bank are different from other
organization. Management of banks is quite similar to organizations but in case of
organization they have to look into at company’s interest more and bank has to look overall.
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The banks set their processes according to RBI guidelines and follow them in daily
transactions of treasury.
The guidelines which provided by RBI are not strictly formulated. RBI has
formulated guidelines keeping in mind that our economy should not suffer.
The bank never compares it process with any other bank because every bank has
some or the other risks involved and you may find in banks almost same processes are
required.
They have entered in each process and found themselves at a success; they aim the
management at a peak.
.
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CHAPTER 6:
Data Analysis
6.1 DATA COLLECTION:-
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Primary Data:: Primary data is based on interview conducted in various banks.
These banks are
1) Central Bank of India. Khar Branch.
Contact Person :: A.G. Shah
Designation :: Asst.Manager.
2) State Bank of India, BKC Branch
Contact Person :: IrranaMangalure
Designation :: Asst Manager
3) ICICI Bank:: Mahim Branch
Contact Person :: Mr.ArunIndulkar
Designation :: ASM.
Secondary data::
Secondary data is the data which is already collected by someone and complied for different
purposes which are used in research for this study. It includes:-
Magazine
Journal
Newspaper
6.2 Limitation of the Study:
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Study allotted has a page constraint. The information required for in-depth study is
not possible.
Time allotted for making project is very limited. As study is restricted only to a
specific area. If time permits then there would be a vast scope of study of different
organizationaltreasury management or having a comparative study between two
banks.
There is no space horizon. So study on treasury management is restricted only to
Indian scenario. So we can’t have a comparative study with other countries.
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CHAPTER 7:
OBSERVATIONS &FINDINGS
7.1 FINDINGS:-
The project has given an insight into the various aspects of treasury management namely:
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Treasury operations of every bank are most probably same. The process may differ
from one bank to another bank as every bank has the own policies for management of
treasury.
Risk involved in treasury management is very high because of which they do not
disclose most of the information.
Mainly there is operational risk and financial risk and they aim for a well integrated
and innovative management of treasury with low risk and proper function of treasury assets
and liabilities.
There is a future scope in treasury management and role of information technology in
treasury management.
SBI bank has an integrated treasury management; they don’t have any competitors as
such because it is well maintained and functioned.
SBI has their own procedure for treasury management which is followed very well by
them. Percentage of income is not disclosed by them to anyone. SBI do follow RBI
guidelines for treasury management properly which they think that it is well formulated.
Risk involved in treasury management for SBI is the same like operational risk and
financial risk and they aim for a well integrated and innovative management of treasury with
low risk and proper function of treasury assets and liabilities.
ICICI has their own procedure for treasury management which is followed very well
by them.
In the increasingly complex regulatory and investment environment of today, even
the most sophisticated investors are finding it difficult to address day to day investment
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The process is very complicated that one cannot understand it easily. Training of 5 to
6 months is required for every employee of treasury department.
As treasury operations are important part of every bank they set certain rules and
regulation as per RBI guidelines and which will become beneficial for the bank also.
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CHAPTER 8:
RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
8.1 Recommendations And Suggestions:-
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As per RBI guidelines every bank should frame and implement a suitable investment
policy to ensure that operations in securities are conducted in accordance with sound
and acceptable business practices.
Banks should have strong internal control systems in place considering the various
factors such as the volume, volatility, fraud and errors etc. As per the guidelines of
the Reserve Bank, banks should have sound internal controls.
The internal audit department should audit the transactions in securities on an
ongoing basis, monitor the compliance with the laid down management policies and
prescribed procedures and report the deficiencies directly to the management of the
bank.
As per the RBI guidelines, Banks should undertake a half yearly review (as of 30
September and 31 March) of their investment portfolio, which should, apart from
other operational aspects of investment portfolio, clearly indicate and certify
adherence to laid down internal investment policy and procedures and Reserve Bank
guidelines, and put up the same before their respective Boards within a month, i.e. by
end-April and end-October. Further, a copy of the review report put up to the Bank’s
Board should be forwarded to the Reserve Bank.
FX is an important area which can be improved by treasury. Rather than business
units converting currency locally to meet their needs, and potentially significant
foreign exchange risks across the organization, which may not be easy to quantify,
FX rates can be improved and risk mitigated by managing FX centrally. FX positions
can be offset, reducing the cost of FX spreads, and ensuring a global view of FX risk.
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CHAPTER 9:
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
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Historically, the treasury operations were oriented more toward compliance of the regulatory
prescriptions in terms of cash reserve ratio and statutory liquidity ratio. Ensuring that there
are no defaults in central bank account and that the borrowings are minimal were the focal
issues addressed to. With the globalization process, the role of treasury has undergone a sea
change and it is a major profit center for better performing banks.
Treasury operations have become more significant and complex today than what it was few
years back. The role played by the technology and the rapid changes in the financial sector
has brought in more flexibility in the funds deployment by banks. The dynamism with which
the Treasury Market moves needs to be fully understood which is integrated in the Banks.
The role of information technology is pivotal particularly because huge funds are handled by
comparatively a few people in each bank. Unless informational expectations are clarified and
met with, treasury operations can seldom be successful in terms of revenue acceleration.
To sum up, the paradigm shift in the risk exposure levels of the financial institutions, has
definitely led to treasury management assuming a center stage. Undoubtedly all financial
institutions need to perform treasury management. But to have a proper treasury management
function in place, a thorough understanding of the various operations on its assets/ liabilities
becomes essential. Such an understanding will enable the financial institution to identify and
unbundle the risks and further aid in adopting and developing appropriate risk management
models to manage risks.
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10. BIBLIOGRAPHY:-
BOOKS
Transformation Of Indian Banks With Information Technology
- Prof. SharadPadwal& Dr. VasantGodse
Theory And Practice Of Treasury And Risk Management In Banks
- Indian Institute Of Banking & Finance (Taxman)
Treasury Management
- Indian Institute Of Banking & Finance (Taxman)
VARIOUS JOURNAL
Various journal from Escob database.
VARIOUS NEWS PAPERS
Times of India
Business Standard