Glosario

A trade repository (TR) is defined by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) as “an entity that centrally collects and maintains records of securities financing transactions”. For the TR, this means validating, storing and matching transaction reports, making those reports available to authorised regulators and aggregating and anonymising the reported data as public information. Trade Repositories play an important role in enhancing the transparency of derivative markets and securities financing markets, and thus of the financial system. For this reason, they are heavily regulated by the government agencies in charge of financial markets supervision.

Trading platforms, also known as electronic trading platforms, are software programs provided by third parties that allow investors and traders to access, monitor and operate in the financial markets in exchange for a fixed fee, at a discount rate or, in some cases, for free.The Internet and financial technology developments have provided investors with the possibility of trading by themselves using a wide choice of online platforms. Some even provide services including information, research and recommendations of specific stocks or mutual funds (groups of stocks) for investment.Rather than trading through a broker or an investment bank, platforms such as Nutmeg are becoming more and more common among market participants. The Foreign exchange market has experienced spectacular growth in recent years as the advent of online forex trading platforms has boosted the volume of retail operations.

Las transacciones internacionales —comúnmente ejecutadas a través de transferencias bancarias transfronterizas o pagos en divisas— representan el intercambio de fondos entre empresas, entidades financieras o proveedores ubicados en diferentes países.

Para los departamentos de tesorería y directores financieros (CFOs), la gestión eficiente de las transacciones internacionales es clave para proteger los márgenes de beneficio frente a las comisiones bancarias y la volatilidad del tipo de cambio.

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Principales vías de ejecución: SEPA vs. Red SWIFT

Según el destino de los fondos y la divisa utilizada, la operativa transfronteriza se divide en dos esquemas principales:

1. Zona Única de Pagos en Euros (SEPA)

Utilizada para transferencias entre países de la zona SEPA denominadas exclusivamente en euros.

Costes: Regulados por la normativa europea (Reglamento CE Nº 924/2009), que obliga a aplicar las mismas tarifas que a una transferencia nacional.

Plazos: Liquidación habitual en 24 horas laborables o de forma instantánea (SEPA Instant).

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2. Transacciones fuera de la zona euro (Red SWIFT)

Para pagos internacionales fuera de la UE o liquidados en divisas distintas al euro (como USD, GBP o JPY), la operativa se realiza mediante la red SWIFT e involucra bancos corresponsales.

Reparto de gastos en transferencias internacionales: SHA, OUR y BEN

En las operaciones fuera de la zona SEPA, la distribución de comisiones entre emisor y receptor se determina mediante tres códigos estándar:

• SHA (Shared): Gastos compartidos. El ordenante paga las comisiones de su banco y el beneficiario asume las de su banco emisor e intermediarios (opción por defecto en la UE).‍
• OUR (All to initiator): El ordenante asume la totalidad de las comisiones bancarias, garantizando que el beneficiario reciba el importe íntegro.‍
• BEN (All to beneficiary): Todos los costes de la transferencia se deducen directamente del importe bruto enviado.

Retos financieros: riesgo de cambio y costes ocultos

A la hora de procesar volúmenes recurrentes de pagos y cobros internacionales, las empresas se enfrentan a dos factores que impactan en su cuenta de resultados:

• Riesgo de tipo de cambio: La fluctuación de las divisas entre la emisión de la factura y el pago final puede reducir considerablemente el margen comercial de la operación.‍
• Márgenes sobre el tipo de cambio (FX Spread): Además de las comisiones fijas, las entidades tradicionales aplican un sobreprecio en el tipo de cambio ofrecido al convertir la moneda.

Automatización de pagos y transacciones en divisas con Kantox

La gestión manual de pagos transfronterizos genera ineficiencias en el departamento de tesorería y aumenta la exposición al riesgo de cambio.

Con las soluciones de Currency Management Automation (CMA) de Kantox, las empresas pueden:

• Automatizar la ejecución de transferencias y pagos en más de 130 divisas.
• Integrar coberturas de divisa en tiempo real para proteger sus márgenes comerciales.
• Conectar sus sistemas ERP/TMS para agilizar la conciliación bancaria y eliminar errores manuales.

Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) is the study of trade prices to determine whether past trades were arranged at favourable prices—low prices for purchases and high prices for sales. At the heart of TCA is the difference between the cost of the transaction at the time the manager decided to execute it and the actual cost, including all operating charges—spreads, commissions and fees. The resulting differential is called “slippage”. Currency Management Automation solutions aim at both minimising trading costs —by providing connectivity to best-price execution platforms— and providing the necessary data to conduct Transaction Cost Analysis.

Transaction exposure is the degree to which future FX-denominated cash flows from contractually binding transactions are affected by currency fluctuations. Transaction exposure exists whether or not the corresponding receivables/payables have been created. Some elements of transaction exposure are included in the firm’s accounting exposure This is the case of AR/AP receivables/payables) that have been created and appear on the balance sheet. Other elements of transaction exposure, such as contractually binding SO/PO (sales/purchase orders) not appearing on the balance sheet, are part of the firm’s operating exposure). Transaction exposure, because of its significance in terms of profit margins and cash flows, is the most widely hedged FX exposure.

Transaction exposure management is the hedging of future FX-denominated cash flows that result from contractually binding transactions, whether or not the corresponding receivables/payables have been created. In transaction exposure management, currency forwards are booked for SO/POs (sales orders/purchase orders) and/or AR/AP (accounts receivable/accounts payable). Transaction exposure management requires constant vigilance, as new orders keep on arriving. It is best implemented with Currency Management Automation solutions that allow firms to monitor and hedge their FX transaction exposure in any currency pair, whatever the number of transactions and their size.

Una transferencia bancaria es un método electrónico para enviar fondos de una cuenta a otra, ya sea a nivel local o internacional, a través de redes seguras como SWIFT o Fedwire. Para los tesoreros corporativos modernos, comprender cómo funcionan estas transferencias es fundamental para gestionar la liquidez internacional, optimizar el capital de trabajo y mitigar los costes ocultos de las divisas (FX).

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Cómo funcionan las transferencias bancarias en la tesorería corporativa

A diferencia de los pagos automatizados de las cámaras de compensación locales, las transferencias bancarias internacionales suelen utilizar una red de mensajería que instruye a los bancos corresponsales para mover fondos entre cuentas situadas en distintas jurisdicciones. Cuando una empresa realiza una transferencia transfronteriza, a menudo se requiere un proceso de conversión de divisas de varios pasos.

Si una empresa factura a un proveedor en una moneda extranjera o liquida obligaciones internacionales, el proceso de pago depende en gran medida de los canales de compensación. Históricamente, esto implicaba la creación manual de archivos de pago, el uso de portales bancarios aislados y la exposición a tipos de cambio opacos o comisiones de bancos intermediarios. Hoy en día, los equipos de tesorería con visión de futuro buscan agilizar estas transacciones salientes integrando la ejecución de pagos directamente con la gestión del riesgo de divisas.

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Por qué las transferencias bancarias son importantes para las operaciones internacionales

Para las medianas y grandes empresas con cadenas de suministro globales, gestionar las transferencias bancarias de forma eficiente va más allá de la simple entrega de pagos. Las consideraciones clave incluyen:

• Costes de transacción y márgenes de divisas: Las transferencias bancarias tradicionales suelen incluir recargos ocultos en el tipo de cambio, lo que afecta a los márgenes de beneficio.‍
• Eficiencia operativa: La introducción manual de datos en múltiples tokens bancarios corporativos aumenta el riesgo de errores y los cuellos de botella en la conciliación.‍
• Visibilidad de la liquidez: El control en tiempo real de las salidas y entradas de efectivo garantiza que las cuentas multidivisa estén financiadas adecuadamente, evitando que el capital quede inmovilizado.
  

Al centralizar y automatizar los flujos de trabajo de pagos y cobros en múltiples divisas, las empresas pueden eliminar la fricción manual, reducir la dependencia de interfaces bancarias fragmentadas y obtener una transparencia total sobre su liquidez global.  

Translation account exposure management refers to the methods used when a firm restates, in the currency in which a company presents its financial statements, of all assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses, gains and losses that are denominated in foreign currencies. This process of foreign currency translation results in accounting FX gains and losses. There are three main translation account exposure management methods available. With the current/noncurrent method, all the foreign exchange denominated current assets and liabilities are translated at the current exchange rate, while non-current assets and liabilities are translated at the historical exchange rate. With the monetary/nonmonetary method, monetary items such as cash, accounts receivable and payable, are translated at the current exchange rate, while nonmonetary items (inventory, fixed assets) are translated at the historical exchange rate. Finally, with the current rate method, all balance sheet and income statement items are translated at the current exchange rate. No matter what translation account exposure management method is used, the resulting FX gains and losses are paper only, and rarely affect cash flows.

Translation risk is the possibility that the translation into a company’s assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses, gains and losses that are denominated in foreign currencies will result in foreign exchange gains and losses. Translation risk is also known as accounting risk. Unlike transaction risk, translation risk reflects paper gains and losses determined by the accounting rules that prevail in each country. It is retrospective because it is based on activities that occurred in the past.

Under-hedging is to the application of a lower-than-optimal optimal hedge ratio to hedge a given FX exposure. Under-hedging is common when forward points are ‘against’ a company, for example when a European firm sells in Emerging Markets currencies that trade at a forward discount to EUR. Risk managers are naturally reluctant to sell these currencies in forward markets, given the high cost of carry. Under-hedging, in such a situation, can be counter-productive. This is because currencies with a high cost of carry tend to be highly volatile and can cause severe losses. The solution is to use Currency Management Automation solutions to calculate a weighted-average rate of all individual pieces of exposure and to build a ‘tolerance’ (in % terms) around that benchmark rate. Then, ‘take-profit’ and ‘stop-loss’ orders are automatically set, allowing the firm to effectively delay the execution of the trades, and thus to take shorter-maturity hedges that create savings on the carry.

Unrealised FX gains or losses reflect the change in the value of foreign currency denominated sales/purchase transactions that are recorded in financial statements prior to the settlement of the invoices. For example, a U.S.-based company sells EUR 100,000 worth of motor vehicle parts to a European distributor. When the invoice was recognised, the spot EUR-USD rate was 1.10. As financial statements are drawn, the transaction hasn’t been settled still, and the exchange rate has moved to 1.15. The corresponding unrealised FX gain of USD 5,000 is recorded on the balance sheet under the owner’s equity section.