Adam Smith Awards 2018 Client Casebook

HIGHLY COMMENDED WINNER Best in Class Treasury Solution in the Middle East Treasury transformation built on core values of growth, reliability and innovation Company profile Established in 1995, EQUATE Petrochemical Company (EQUATE) is a global producer of petrochemicals headquartered in Kuwait. The challenge EQUATE treasury was ‘old fashioned’. It used Excel, multiple disintegrated online banking portals, and posted manually into its ERP. All this meant that it was nowhere near being a world-class treasury department capable of supporting company expansion plans or acquisitions. In 2014 EQUATE management adopted the values of growth, reliability and innovation to serve the vision of becoming a global leader and world-class producer of petrochemicals. In line with this business strategy, the treasury team decided on the goal of taking an innovative approach in treasury management which would replace outdated treasury practices with efficient solutions as well as setting the stage to move from a local company to a global leader. The solution EQUATE entered into partnership with Zanders Treasury Consultancy to conduct a thorough review and assessment of their current treasury processes, design a blueprint for the future treasury organisation and create a roadmap for the entire treasury transformation project. The aim of the treasury transformation project was to change: • Organisation: from dispersed operations to centralised functions. • Management culture: from decentralised policy setting to a highly centralised decision-making model. • Back office: from unstructured back offices with no uniform practices to a single global back office with standardised processes. • Processes: from manual processes to fully automated. • Systems: moved from an old fashioned excel-based platform to a coordinated and integrated system architecture with single instance models. The following were implemented: • Treasury governance and control established. • Bank relationship management re-classified to global core banks, regional banking partners and local banks. • Global RFP launched and FIS Quantum solution selected as the treasury management system (TMS) to help manage cash and financial risk. • Joined the SWIFT network through FIS SWIFTNet Service Bureau. • 360T selected and implemented as the dealing system. The integration project led by Accenture was launched on 23 rd May 2017 to hand over the operations and treasury functions from Dow to EQUATE. Best practice and innovation With this new, advanced technology landscape EQUATE now sets a leading example for best business practices and pioneering international achievements, as well as benefitting from the advantages of combining innovation and industrial expertise with competent human resources, technological breakthroughs and valuable infrastructure. “Moving the treasury division from a cost centre to a value-added profit centre – through automation, state-of-the art technology, full visibility and control over costs and fees, well-negotiated partners’ contractual arrangements, optimised cash, liquidity and working capital management as well as channels infrastructure which will save time, effort and spend in any future expansions,” states Nayef Al-Smairi, Treasury Specialist, EQUATE. EQUATE Petrochemical Company Al Ahmadi, Kuwait Nayef Al-Smairi, Treasury Specialist Key benefits • Improved transactional fees. • Better FX pricing. • Higher liquidity yields. • Increased visibility. • Up-to-date scalable technology. • Enhanced interfacing with TMS and ERP. Liam Ó Caoimh, Zanders, Nayef Al-Smairi, EQUATE and Zaid Al Kailani, Citi 18 | treasurytoday Adam Smith Awards © August 2018