Commentary
A new treasury barometer survey for the Asia-Pacific region has been unveiled by SunGard and Bank of America Merrill Lynch at a press event attended by gtnews’ Richard Hartung. He spoke to senior managers at the firms about what they believe the survey reveals about Asian treasurers’ intentions, current set-up and biggest challenges - with cash visibility and yield enhancement high on the priority list.
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 second day of the EuroFinance Asia 2013 conference, held on 16 May at Raffles Convention Centre in Singapore, saw corporate treasurers from Microsoft, Toyota, DHL and others offer insights into their operations as part of a drive to share knowledge and highlight best practice. The Asian award-winning projects were also revealed, alongside an India focus session.
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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.
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The EuroFinance Asia conference looking at international cash management, treasury and risk got underway on 15 May at Raffles Convention Centre in Singapore with an opening address emphasising the key regional economic differences that treasurers need to take into account - with ‘risk’ still to the fore in Europe, the US in ‘recovery’ mode, and Asia offering ‘growth’. The strategy that a treasurer at a multinational corporation (MNC) adopts to deal with these different realities will be crucial to ensuring the well-being of his or her firm.
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.
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‘Hindsight, Insight and Foresight’ are the themes for around 700 financial professionals from the UK and further afield attending this year’s Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT) annual conference in Liverpool, UK. The first day’s focus on hindsight featured presentations on the continuing volatility in the eurozone and whether corporates’ preparations for the 1 February 2014 launch of the single euro payments area (SEPA) is managing to “break through the hype to the operational reality”, with a BAT treasury case study a particular standout.
Blog
In this instalment of his monthly regulation blog, gtnews contributing editor and head of regulatory policy at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Selwyn Blair-Ford, looks at the new ‘twin peak’ regulatory structure of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.
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The NACHA payments conference in San Diego, US, continued on 23 April with corporate treasurers admitting that they need to more vocal about electronic remittance and e-invoicing standards if they want to see them rolled out anytime soon.
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Janet Estep, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the US electronic payments association NACHA, welcomed thousands of payments professionals to the Payments 2013 Conference in San Diego, US, on Monday 22 April. This year’s theme was innovation and the elctronicification of business-to-business (B2B) practices, a key aim of treasurers seeking efficiency.
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To counter the impact of the current macro-economic distress triggered by the 2008 financial crisis, corporate treasurers have been challenged for the last five years to optimise their company’s working capital. This blog from gtnews contributing editor, Enrico Camerinelli, explores the available options, but also warns against a short-term approach that could damage physical and financial supply chains and introduce risk into a company.
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.