This diploma thesis deals with evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of cash pooling. The aim of the thesis is to assess profitability of the cash management methods and eventual benefits of involvement of branches of surveyed company in the Group cash pooling. The theoretical part analyzes basic concepts of cash pooling, analytical part contains presentation of the company. Draft part assesses suitability of pooling cash and the feasibility of introducing cash pooling in other branches.

This thesis concerns the cash pooling sector that concentrates cash of big companies and top corporates and contributes to an effective control of liquidity. The first part completely describes this bank product using mostly technical foreign sources. The second part analyses individual legal and fiscal apects influencing cash pooling in the Czech republic. The last two chapters of my thesis deals with detailed analysis of this sophisticated product by an example of Komercni banka. Implementation of cash pooling from the perspective of the bank, clients portfolio using this product together with comparison of its differents types is studied in this thesis.

HINTERGRUND: Um den Erfolg einer antiretroviralen HIV-Therapie zu kontrollieren und Therapieversagen suffizient aufzudecken ist die quantitative Messung der HIV-1 RNA der Bestimmung der CD4-Zellzahl sowie der Beurteilung anhand der Klinik des Patienten überlegen. Die Viruslastbestimmung ist jedoch ein sehr teures Verfahren, sodass Kosten und Infrastruktur häufig die begrenzende Komponente für die Anwendung darstellen. Das gilt besonders für arme Länder, in denen die technische Entwicklung des Gesundheitssystems wenig fortgeschritten ist. In aktuellen Studien konnte gezeigt werden, dass das Poolen von Blutproben, bei einer an die klinische Relevanz angepassten Schwelle, ein effizientes Verfahren ist, um die ART mittels Viruslastbestimmung zu überwachen. Dies gilt, wenn die Therapieversagerquote niedrig ist. In Ländern, in denen der Kostenreduktion der Viruslastbestimmung eine besondere Wichtigkeit zukommt, sind die Durchseuchungsrate und die Therapieversagerquote jedoch oft hoch. METHODEN: Es wurde das Poolen von Blutplasmaproben, DBS und DPS bei einer Population mit hoher Therapieversagerquote untersucht. Ein Pool wurde jeweils aus fünf Einzelproben angefertigt. Zur Auswertung der Pools aus flüssigen Plasmaproben wurde ein Algorithmus zur Vereinfachung der Dekonvolution angewandt. ERGEBNISSE: Die Effizienz der Methode bei DPS (n=185) und flüssigem Plasma (n=385) lag zwischen 34,29% und 47,57%. Die Anwendung des Poolingsystems an DBS (n=100) erwies sich als wenig rentabel. Die Effizienz beim Gebrauch von DPS war am höchsten. Die Kosten pro Test konnten hier bei einem negativen Vorhersagewert von 95% und minimalem technischen Aufwand auf fast die Hälfte (21 US$, statt 40 US$ pro Assay) reduziert werden. SCHLUSSFOLGERUNG: Durch die Kombination von Vorauswahlkriterien und Minipoolmethode können die Kosten für das virologische Monitoring der antiretroviralen Therapie auch in Entwicklungsländern gesenkt werden, ohne wesentliche Verluste in Genauigkeit und Validität der Methode verzeichnen zu müssen. DPS stellen eine erfolgsversprechende Möglichkeit dar, die Viruslastbestimmung auch in abgelegen Regionen ohne entsprechenden Laboratorien zu ermöglichen. / BACKGROUND: Quantitative human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA load testing surpasses CD4 cell count and clinical monitoring in detecting antiretroviral therapy (ART) failure; however, its cost can be prohibitive. Recently, the use of pooling strategies with a clinically appropriate viral load threshold was shown to be accurate and efficient for monitoring when the prevalence of virologic failure is low. METHODS: The pooling of blood plasma, dried blood spots, and dried plasma spots were evaluated. 5 individual samples were mixed in one minipool. A deconvolution algorithm was used to identify specimens with detectable viral loads in pools of blood plasma. RESULTS: The efficiency of DPS (n=185)and liquid blood plasma (n=385) reached 34,29% and 47,57%. Minipools of 5 dried blood spots had the best efficiency overall and were accurate at a >95% negative predictive value with minimal technical requirements. CONCLUSIONS: In resource-constrained settings, a combination of preselection of patients with low pretest probability of virologic failure and pooled testing can reduce the cost of virologic monitoring without compromising accuracy.

I Sverige aktualiserar cash pool-system särskilda aktiebolagsrättsliga frågeställningar, beroende på att lån till aktieägare som huvudregel är förbjudna. Vid en prövning av de undantagsmöjligheter som ges uppstår särskilda bedömningsproblem när ett företag som äger aktier i det utlånande aktiebolaget har sitt säte utanför det Europeiska Ekonomiska Samarbetsområdet (EES). Omfånget av förbudsregeln och dess undantag vid likviditetshantering är i detta hänseende oviss. Det är därför nödvändigt att klargöra omfattningen av förbudet och utreda vilka krav aktiebolagslagen ställer på svenska aktiebolag som avser att delta i en cash pool.

Zugl.: Düsseldorf, Univ., Diss., 2008

Zugl.: Konstanz, Univ., Diss., 2008/2009

This thesis describes and analyzes the cash pool from the perspective of large companies and corporations. The main aim of this thesis is a description and analysis of cash pooling structures in the company E.ON in the Czech Republic. Based on the analysis benefits of involvement in the cash pooling structures are quantitatively assessed in terms of comparison of interest received / paid under the cash pooling and without the involvement of the cash pooling, the compensation for the interest involving cash pooling, economies of scale involving cash pooling and reduce volatility in cash involving cash pooling. The theoretical part provides a basic summary of the cash pooling. Factors that influence the development of cash pooling structures are primarily legal environment, integrating banking market in the Eurozone and banking structure of ownership. The contribution of this thesis is a summary of information obtained on the cash pooling, which is not fully available in study materials.

We consider two firms which pool some of their inventory. The pool is created by the firms' contributions, and a firm's entitlement for an allocation from the pool (if needed) is a function of its contribution. Transshipment from the pool is costly, but the firms can benefit from reduced risk through inventory sharing using the pool. We analyze the resulting non-cooperative game. We prove existence of a Nash equilibrium and compare it to a model with centralized control. An appropriate compensation cost for using the other firms contribution to the pool can induce the retailers to achieve centralized solutions. We also compare the optimal partial pooling strategy to the special cases of no pooling and complete pooling and discuss situations where it is likely that one of the special cases will be optimal. Numerical results confirm that in the prevalent practice of partial pooling the retailers can achieve higher expected profits than under no pooling or complete pooling and that there is a significant difference between a setting with independent players and a model of central control.

Práce se zabývá transnacionálními korporacemi, zejména metodami jejich financování. Zaměřuje se hlavně na metody specifické pro tyto společnosti v porovnání s lokálně působícími podniky. V úvodu se zabývá obecnými charakteristikami transnacionálních korporací - jejich definováním, typy, statistickými údaji, jejich významem a vlivem na národní ekonomiky a etickými otázkami. V druhé části se zabývá strategiemi užívanými pro financování transnacionálních korporací, hlavně problematikou opatřování finančních zdrojů, centralizací finančních toků, využíváním inflačního vývoje a změn měnových kurzů a využíváním rozdílů v daňových systémech. Podrobněji je analyzována problematika multilateral nettingu, poolingu a transferových cen.

The response of the circulatory system to gravity and hydrostatic forces has been well studied, for example the hydrostatic indifferent point (the location at which pressure does not change with posture) of the venous system has been established to be an important determinant of orthostatic responses and it has been found to be located near the diaphragm. However, the role of the abdomen has been less researched; for example, it appears that the concept that the abdominal compartment may have its own hydrostatic indifferent point has been overlooked. The goal of the present study was to establish the location of the abdominal hydrostatic indifferent point (HIPab) and to test the hypothesis that binding of the lower abdomen would shift the location of the HIPab cranially. Intra-abdominal pressure was measured using a modified wick needle technique in the supine and upright posture before and after binding of the lower abdomen in 7 anesthetized rats. In the unbound condition, the HIPab was located 5.2 ± 0.3 cm caudal to the xyphoid, meaning the hepatic veins were exposed to relatively large negative interstitial pressures during head-up tilt. Binding of the lower abdomen significantly (p <0.05) shifted the HIPab cranially by 1.7 cm. Thus, the relatively caudal location of the HIPab causes a relatively large hepatic transmural pressure owing to the fall in interstitial pressure during upright posture. The cranial shift of the HIPab by binding of the lower abdomen lessens the fall in hepatic extramural pressure and thereby protects the hepatic veins from distension.