Lost in conversion?
Nana Yaa Boakye-Adjei and Andrew Derry explain the practical issues surrounding foreign exchange and international NGOs.
Since the recent financial crisis and sharp drop in the value of the British pound, international NGOs (INGOs) have had to review and improve their practices in currency procurement and foreign exchange risk management. Only the largest INGOs have dedicated treasury resources, for the rest, the vast majority of foreign exchange issues form only part of the remit of a small finance team, typically numbering only two or three personnel. Currency management can be a daunting task for such organisations. Investing the time to consider a few simple procedural changes can lead to meaningful cost savings and a significant reduction in exposure to the volatility of international foreign exchange markets.
Author: Andrew Derry
Andrew Derry is an independent consultant in the charity sector and is currently setting up NGO Treasury Services, a not-for-profit organisation, to work with NGOs to help them manage their treasury operations. Andrew’s career was previously in the financial industry, working at hedge funds JWM Partners and Long-Term Capital Management from 1994-2008 after having spent three years at the Bank of England. He holds an MSc in Applied Statistics from Birkbeck College (University of London) and a BSc in Economics and Statistics from the University of Bath
Author: Nana Yaa Boakye-Adjei
Nana Yaa Boakye-Adjei is working as a researcher at Stamp Out Poverty focusing on the FX management and currency procurement policies of development NGOs.
She is the author of the Stamp Out Poverty paper Missing Millions.
Click here for other articles written by Nana Yaa Boakye-Adjei
There are no comments on this article. Be the first to comment.