From 20 June 2016, the CHAPS and CREST settlement days will be extended to align more closely to the business day.
In theory, this could result in greater flexibility for end users; in practice, this extension doesn't necessarily change anything operationally, but your cash management banks should have been in touch with you to explain how your cut-off times for CHAPS payments may alter.
If they have not, it is worth contacting them to understand how any changes impact your day to day operations as they have reported to the Bank of England that they are now communicating with their clients.
In addition, and possibly more importantly for some, the extension to the CREST settlement day will impact corporate action activities undertaken on your behalf by registrars (e.g. paying dividends, proxy voting, updating share registers prior to AGM etc.) and so you or your company secretariat colleagues need to understand what this may mean for your organization.
Again the registrars have confirmed to the Bank of England that they are communicating to their clients.
More information can be found on the Bank of England website or drop us a line at technical@treasurers.org and we will try to point you in the right direction.
One thing that the financial markets and treasurers really loathe is uncertainty – and we have it in spades. At least until the 23 June.
Irrespective of where your company is based, Brexit uncertainty will impact you. There are a number of areas that need to be considered, many of which will not necessarily be under the remit of treasury, but many that will.
Over the next few weeks, the ACT will publish blogs, articles, and a Briefing Note setting out some of the questions and the possible impact of various scenarios you should consider as part of your contingency planning.
Every organisation’s approach will be different but to get you started, take a look at our other blogs on this site and our latest business briefing 'Treasury’s role in driving financial and business strategy' to start you thinking about what the issues may be for your organisation.
