Report of the epi-Finances Committee
M. Maikowski (DE), Chair
The 79th Meeting of the epi-Finances Committee took place in Basel on 25 and 26 September 2017.
The meeting agenda included a number of topics relating to the financial management of epi's affairs.
The Committee received reports from the Treasurer on
- performance relative to budget to date in 2017;
- the first draft of the budget for 2018;
- various projects and initiatives of the Treasurer; and
- the new activities for epi students.
Regarding the 2017 budget, the Committee agrees that the current deviation of the actual financial situation for 2017 from the budget does not justify a proposed adapted budget at Warsaw C83 Council meeting
The Committee notes that the budget for 2018 is not yet finished. The first draft of the 2018 budget was however briefly discussed and approved by the Committee.
Regarding the VAT reimbursement process, the Committee acknowledges the difficulties encountered by epi to be exempt from VAT in some countries and approves the initiative of the Treasurer to improve the process in order to get a written upfront agreement of the service providers to apply the tax exemption on the later bill.
The Committee noted with approval that the implementation of the new DIAMANT bookkeeping software is well ahead of schedule and that the new software is scheduled to go live already in October 2017. It appears that this new bookkeeping software will substantially increase the efficiency of the bookkeeping processes in the epi Secretariat.
The investment strategy for the epi mandate to Julius Bär was presented and explained by the bankers of Julius Bär in charge of epi's investment. The security measures were explained at length. The portfolio is structured very conservatively and yields a net performance of 1.84% YTD. After the presentation, the Committee agrees with the Treasurer and the bankers to continue with the current low risk profile.
