"Redbridge’s involvement enabled us to better understand the breakdown of the costs associated with our FX transactions and prompted our three banking partners to provide clear and optimized benchmarks"
Engagement overview
- Overall objective: perform a comprehensive review of Gerflor’s FX transaction fees
- Scope of analysis: group-level (headquarters in France)
- Instruments: spots and forwards (and, to a lesser extent, swaps)
- 13 currencies covered: AUD, CAD, CHF, CNH, CZK, DKK, GBP, JPY, NOK, PLN, SAR, SEK, USD
- Period under review: previous 12 months
Objectives
- Identify the costs that the FX transactions handled by Gerflor’s three banks involve
- Identify the margins applied by the banks
- Benchmark conditions by bank, instrument and maturity
- Encourage banks to systematically provide timestamps for trade confirmations
- Optimize foreign exchange processing terms
- Secure terms through formal written agreements
- Monitor whether they are being applied on an ongoing basis
Results
- 40% reduction in FX-related costs
- Commitment from banks to adhere to clear pricing schedules and systematically provide timestamps
- Implemented a joint monthly monitoring process with Redbridge for a three-year period starting in December 2025 to check whether savings have been made each month
- Alongside these improvements to FX operations, made significant enhancements to other cash management activities (especially in the United Kingdom)
Methodology
- Compilation of volumes, instruments used, timestamps and applied rates to determine costs and margins using Redbridge’s database
- Consultations with banks in several phases
Key milestones in 2025:
- Kick-off: June 13
- Upside report: July 31
- First-round results: October 13
- Final results: November 14
- Monitoring: initially monthly, starting in December 2025, to ensure terms are being applied correctly
Value added by Redbridge
- Ability to reverse-engineer bank margins on FX transactions using proprietary timestamped databases
- In-depth understanding of what constitutes fair margin levels based on volumes, types of transaction and currencies involved
- Using this expertise to challenge banks on our client’s behalf
- Ability to track the monthly savings achieved over a three-year period, supported by Redbridge’s Client Care team, which remains in regular contact with Gerflor