Actualizing Current Market Trends

On this page you will find various papers to address current markets trends.

ENSURING COMPLIANCE AND MITIGATING RISK IN MORTGAGE SERVICING

In today’s increasingly regulated environment, organizations face the daunting challenge of staying compliant with an ever-evolving landscape of regulatory requirements. MESH Auditor emerges as a vital tool that addresses this challenge and empowers organizations to maintain complete compliance while minimizing potential risks.

ENCOURAGE TEAM CONNECTION 
(Culture Infusion: Principle 9)

At Actualize, building strong, lasting relationships with our team members is vital to our success. Whether your team is fully remote, hybrid, or in-person, showing appreciation and fostering connections can significantly enhance morale and overall productivity. In today’s evolving work environment, it’s essential that every individual feels valued, no matter their location. To help you achieve this, we have compiled a list of simple yet effective activities that can strengthen relationships with your team, boost engagement, and create a supportive and inclusive workplace culture.

PREPARING FOR ISO 20022 ADOPTION AND MIGRATION

ISO 20022 is an XML-based framework designed for the exchange of financial information. Within corporate treasury, it is poised to become the global standard for bank statements, payments, and payment reporting messages. Within 5 years, SWIFT estimates that 80% of high-value payments by volume and 90% by value will use the new standard. ​

LEVERAGING MESH AUDITOR FOR WHOLE LOAN SALE PORTFOLIO COMPLIANCE

When considering acquiring a portfolio through a Whole Loan Sale (WLS), it is essential for purchasers to conduct a thorough quality review of the underlying assets. This ensures compliance with various regulatory, agency, and investor requirements. Effective pre-purchase and post-purchase due diligence are critical to the success of the transaction and the long-term sustainability of the acquired portfolio.

​MORTGAGE SERVICING RIGHTS: SPECIFIC COMPLIANCE CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

Mortgage Servicing Rights (MSRs) present unique compliance challenges due to the intricate nature of the mortgage servicing industry. With increasing regulatory oversight and evolving consumer protection laws, mortgage servicers must adopt comprehensive compliance programs. MESH Auditor offers an innovative automated compliance solution designed to address these challenges effectively.

Bank Relationship Management Webinar

In today’s complex financial landscape, clarity is paramount. We invite you to watch our recent webinar featuring industry veterans Moe Stoltzman, Manager at Actualize Consulting, and Keith Raymond, Chief Revenue Officer at Financial Sciences Corporation. Their engaging conversation explores the intricacies of effective bank relationship management, setting essential goals for managing bank relationships, navigating common challenges, and leveraging technology and advisory services for optimal outcomes.

Listen in to gain insights that will help you elevate your organization’s banking strategy through a holistic, individualized approach to bank relationship management.

WHY BUSINESSES ARE BUILDING 
CUSTOM AI BOTS

Artificial intelligence (AI), Generative AI (Gen-AI), and Machine Learning (ML) have quickly become buzzwords used extensively by business leaders across the globe. It seems as if professionals cannot go a day without hearing about ‘leveraging AI’ and ‘AI-generated insights.’

​Yet, when professionals look to leverage AI by employing the most widely known AI, ChatGPT, they are quickly advised it’s against company policy due to cybersecurity concerns.

APIS IN TREASURY MANAGEMENT

The financial sector has undergone a transformative shift towards API integration in recent years, particularly within treasury management. APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) have become essential for modernizing and streamlining financial operations, offering a standardized approach to data exchange and communication between disparate systems and applications.

TMS AND ERP BEST PRACTICES FOR TREASURY

When transitioning to or upgrading Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), companies should involve the Treasury group early on, look at its technology stack, and approach the strategy to elevate its processes and give the business an architecture that will reduce risk, increase automation and straight-through processes, and eliminate redundant data entry. ​

INTRODUCTION TO ISO 20022

What is it?
A global standard for data exchange between financial institutions
Transition to modern XML message formats for bank statements, payments and payment status reporting

​Why the focus?
Consistent standards and communication protocols don’t exist for financial transactions
Inconsistency creates a variety of challenges and inefficiencies
Quality and security of financial data is of increasing importance

MANAGING INTERCOMPANY TRANSACTIONS

In treasury management, the term intercompany refers to financial transactions or activities that occur between different entities within the same corporate group. These transactions can include intercompany loans, transfers of funds, investments, trades (sales of service or products), or any other financial arrangements between subsidiaries, parent companies, or sister companies within the same corporate structure. ​

MANAGING CASH WITH EFFECTIVE LIQUIDITY PLANNING 

Treasurers are tasked with providing enough capital for operations and expenses while minimizing borrowing expenses, maximizing investment returns, and reducing financial risks. Effective liquidity management is essential to mitigate financial risks such as unexpected cash flow fluctuations or liquidity issues while efficiently managing cash and debt balances. ​

​TREASURY PAYMENTS RISK MANAGEMENT

Historically, risk management in payments focused primarily on ensuring accuracy and maintaining operational continuity. While these remain pertinent factors, organizations must also recognize that the landscape has evolved with new risks from the rise of digital transactions, increased cyber threats, and more complex global payments. A recent survey by the Association for Financial Professionals estimates that 65% of organizations were victims of payment fraud attacks or attempts last year and that almost half of those affected were unable to recoup lost funds.

TREASURY REGULATORY COMPLIANCE AND STANDARDS

Ever-changing regulations continue to influence the world of treasury payments and are a necessary component of any payment strategy. Companies are obligated to maintain compliance with a diverse array of regulations and standards.

TREASURY PAYMENTS TECHNOLOGY

Newly emerging payment methods and technologies in the market provide options. Several developments have the potential to fundamentally change the way that corporations think about payment processing.

USING TECHNOLOGY TO ADVANCE TREASURY OPERATIONS

Technology increases the opportunity for treasury centralization, standardization and enables treasurers to demonstrate control over activities and perform tasks more effectively. Software companies continue to innovate and deploy SaaS technology that helps automate and simplify the various processes corporate treasury supports. Automation streamlines processes, improves accuracy and traceability in calculations and provides a more transparent and up-to-date view of the company’s financial situation. We see the benefits companies reap from leveraging Treasury Management Systems (TMS) and other software to manage liquidity and risk functions. Additionally, the use of APIs and AI have brought forth more capabilities, such as real-time access to key data across organizations and financial institutions and analytics that until now were difficult to develop with existing tools.

HOW TO RETAIN TREASURY TALENT

Talent retention is a universal goal for any firm. Retention is especially vital to a successful Treasury team as the talent pool is not as deep as other industries, while the breadth of unique knowledge and experience required is extensive. We are seeing turnover at all levels within Treasury teams, from senior management to the analyst level, and experienced Treasury professionals are always in demand. When Actualize Consulting works with Treasury departments, we share our experiences to reduce employee turnover and retain top talent.

ISO 20022 ADOPTION

For corporates these days executing a holistic payments strategy can feel like a never ending project in itself. Beyond the considerations of strategic banking partners, introduction of new API functionality, execution of fraud and sanction screening, it seems nothing remains the same for long. Perhaps the most significant of all recent developments is the ongoing adoption of a (some would say long awaited…) global standard for exchanging financial information – referred to as ISO 20022.

BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN FOR TREASURY – BEST IN CLASS

As we adjust to extended periods of remote working, clients are realizing how effort previously expended in creating a business continuity plan (BCP) is paying back in spades. Good for them. And it’s true having a plan in place to accommodate the loss of access to the main office is one of the critical considerations in formulating an effective BCP plan. A full BCP plan needs to cover much more than planning for remote working. Starting to build out a BCP can be daunting, so we present an approach to defining what a BCP plan should cover for a specific company and how to evaluate and prioritize mitigations and recovery from those events, should they occur. Click here or the button below to download the PDF.

COLLABORATION TOOLS TO AID IN REMOTE WORKING

Due to current circumstances, many organizations have found themselves venturing into the new space of remote working. While most companies have their existing suite of collaboration tools to enable flexibility on location, it might not be enough infrastructure to ease the growing pains of a full work-from-home transition. At Actualize, we were an early adopter of Cloud Technology to support our internal team that has worked remotely for over 15 years, so we were prepared and seasoned for this shift. Using our experience through the years, these are the things we have found helpful to work remotely, efficiently, and with sufficient controls in place. As we have discovered, working remotely does not mean you have to sacrifice collaboration for flexibility; you just need to be a bit more creative. Click here or the button below to download the PDF.

LIBOR TRANSITION

The LIBOR transition date of June 2021 is now less than a year away. Almost every conference has a session on the topic and at Actualize we see a marked increase in the request for information and advice from our clients. In this overview we explain the issue at hand, why there is a meaningful financial impact looming, and an outline for how to get practically started with an all-encompassing transition plan. Click here or the button below to download the PDF.