In a fast-changing environment of geopolitical shifts, regulatory change and technological innovation, it is sometimes difficult to identify where treasury professionals should focus. The recent ACT Cash Management Conference brought together more than 200 cash and treasury professionals over two days to address some of these issues and navigate through the complexity.
We were really excited about showcasing our new events app which we put to good use with interactive voting sessions at the start of both days of the conference and participants were also able to leave feedback for sessions throughout.
Day one kicked off with a fascinating keynote speech by David Marsh, MD and Co-Founder of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), in which he outlined global risks and issues including Brexit, Middle East instability, Russia and Ukraine and much more. This was followed by a series of panel discussions and case studies by practitioners focusing on the core issues faced by treasurers managing cash from visibility, pooling
and supply chain finance through to treasury security and controls and the art of bank relationship management.
Technology was the main focus of the second day with sessions on blockchain, FinTech, digital and mobile payments. Blockchain proved to be a timely topic as the interactive vote showed that 63% of the audience didn’t know if it is a revolutionary concept or just a temporary fad.
Perhaps the hardest hitting presentation of the day was the treasurer’s wish list with issues such as KYC, digital billing, simple pricing and STP under scrutiny. The conclusion reached was that a collaborative effort between banks, treasurers and regulators would solve many of these problems.
The conference concluded with two very strong presentations on managing cash globally.
Now in its 12th year the ACT’s Cash Management Conference continues to grow and provides a great opportunity to listen and learn directly from the experts, share ideas and best practise as well as expand networks.
Here’s looking forward to 2017!
Got any technical questions? Please e-mail the ACT Policy & Technical team at technical@treasurers.org.
