Blog
The third and final day of the EuroFinance Asia 2013 conference on 17 May in Singapore was focused on China, with Intel’s treasurer explaining how it can now move cash out of the country. Corporates, including Akzo Nobel and Yum! Brands offered insights into the leading treasury practices in the fast-growing Chinese market.
Blog
The EuroFinance Asia 2013 conference in Singapore featured a number of treasury case studies from British American Tobacco (BAT), sports retailer RSH, technology giant HP and others, illustrating treasury best practice.
Blog
Lessons from the banking crisis five years on, the role of the strategic treasurer in a ‘new normal’ market environment, and the various alternative routes to access funding for future growth were all on a busy agenda at day two of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT) conference in Liverpool, UK. An interesting speech from the treasurer at RBS, John Cummins, who took over just before the crash and has been working to repair the damage ever since, was also provided, alongside a capital markets funding case study from the treasurer at BG Group.
Blog
Members of the newly formed London FP&A Club gathered for their second event on 17 April at the Montcalm Hotel, Chiswell Street, in the City of London. More than 20 finance professionals were present to hear Dr Peter Bunce, director of the Beyond Budgeting Round Table (BBRT) talk about the beyond budgeting approach to financial planning and analysis (FP&A), and to network and share best practice. News about a forthcoming FP&A certification programme was also unveiled.
Q&A
Fabrice Domange, senior vice president (SVP) and head of financial planning and analysis (FP&A) for Europe, Middle-East and Africa (EMEA) at AIG Property and Casualty, recently spoke to gtnews’ Neil Ainger about his career in FP&A, the challenges he faces, and the need for communication and ‘soft skills’ to be included in the planned new Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) certification, so that the discipline can truly act as bridge between finance professionals and the wider business.
Blog
A new networking group and business best practice forum was launched last night at the prestigious City Club of London to support financial planning and analysis (FP&A) professionals and aid their career development. News about a forthcoming FP&A certification programme was also unveiled, alongside the establishment of the London FP&A Club, which aims to share case studies, contacts and knowledge about this growing finance profession.
Blog
Day 3 of the Association for Financial Professionals’ (AFP) annual conference in Miami kicked off with a morning session entitled ‘Strategy for Success in a Global Treasury Project’, which featured Sharon Petrey, assistant treasurer for Coca-Cola, who described the beverage giant’s global treasury project and alignment with SWIFT.
Blog
It is often said that there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. But perhaps a third could be added for business people - regulation. The third day of the AFP Conference in Miami on 16 October addressed the issue as part of its governance, accounting and compliance track with Standard & Poor’s (S&P) outlining its planned new ratings system and the treasurer at Timex discussing anti-money laundering (AML) procedures and regulatory challenges. The former US Secretary of Defence, Robert Gates, closed the day with an overview of the political scene and risk assessment.
Blog
In order to succeed in raising treasury’s profile and influence within an organisation, treasurers should look at three areas: initiation, education and communication.
Blog
Day 2 of the Association for Financial Professional’s (AFP) annual conference in Miami commenced with a Corporate Treasurers Council (CTC) breakfast session for treasury and financial leaders, at which Parag Khanna was guest speaker.
Blog
The second day of the AFP Conference in Miami on 15 October focused on the growth of treasury in Asia with Pfizer and McDonald's providing respective case studies about introducing regional operations and using renminbi (RMB) cross-border services during the treasury and finance track. A fascinating joint speech from the chief financial officer (CFO) and treasurer at Carnival Corporation at the end of the day outlined how to communicate and report to the board.
Blog
The tough economic situation means that treasurers need to keep a tight rein on cash and liquidity, a short leash on risk and regulatory compliance, and constantly seek out best practice to ensure efficiency, but that doesn’t negate the need to be bold. More than 6,000 delegates gathered for the opening of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) Conference in Miami, which runs 14-17 October, to access presentations on all these topics and listen to the keynote speaker Michael J Fox discourage timidity, as well as hear about award-winning Pinnacle treasury projects which rewarded boldness.
Blog
The worsening economic situation in the world and on-going eurozone crisis mean that keeping control of your cash as a treasurer has rarely been more important, which is why the opening day of the EuroFinance trade show, running 26-28 September at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, opened with a dedicated conference stream addressing precisely this topic. Alongside the usual welcome speeches, exhibition stands and networking, treasurers got down to the core business of how best to sweat cash, protect it, move it cross-border, and call upon it when needed in tough times.
Survey Results
Since the financial crisis in 2008, the treasury role has changed and become more strategic. The importance of treasury to the organisation has increased, with much more emphasis on cash management and forecasting, working capital management and above all operational risk management.
in association with Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Interview
Mustafa Kilic, head of regional treasury, and group risk and insurance manager at the home appliances manufacturer Indesit, spoke to Neil Ainger at gtnews recently about why he is constantly scanning the horizon for risk, the need for better, more comprehensive risk assessments, and the lessons he has learned during his 20-year career.
Interview
When Michael Connolly, vice president and treasurer at Tiffany & Co, first joined the jeweller in 1989 it only had three locations outside of the US. It now has 247 stores in 22 different countries and revenues of US$3.7bn. As Connolly recently explained to gtnews, that places a burden on treasury in terms of managing currency exposures, not to mention managing diamond and precious metal suppliers from around the world.
Interview
Tone Merte Hansen, senior corporate treasurer at Telenor, a mobile and telecoms group headquartered in Oslo, Norway, which has 40,000 employees worldwide and operates in three major regions covering the Nordics, central Europe and Asia, spoke to Neil Ainger at gtnews recently about risk, short-term investing and her career in treasury.
Video
Carole Berndt, head of global transaction services, EMEA, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA Merrill), outlines the back-to-basics approach that will see corporate treasurers through these turbulent times.
Blog
Workshops on the second day of the Forum for Global Corporate Treasury examined the benefits that SWIFT offers corporates and took an in-depth look at managing cross-border liquidity.
Video
Peter van Rood, corporate director, treasury, AkzoNobel and chairman of the Forum, talks about the main issues facing corporate treasurers today with regards to FX risk.
Commentary
At a gala dinner on the evening of 24 May at the prestigious Sofitel Grand Hotel in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the winners of the third gtnews Awards for Global Corporate Treasury, sponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA Merrill), were announced. More than 110 attendees gathered from around the world to celebrate best practice and reward industry-leading projects and personalities.
Blog
The main theme of the Forum for Global Corporate Treasury was risk, plain and not so simple. Corporate treasurers remits are stretching well beyond their comfort zones and into areas of risk that they never had to deal with before, whether that is due to the eurozone crisis, the downgrading of their banks and also more operational type risk.
Blog
The gtnews Forum for Global Corporate Treasury, sponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA Merrill), opened on 24 May with in-depth, topical presentations to the audience of 60 senior corporate treasurers from the European Central Bank (ECB) on what's next for the eurozone and discussions on the single euro payments area (SEPA), foreign exchange (FX) volatility, risk management, and regulations.