Some of our readers may already be aware that this year marks the 21st anniversary of the formation of the Association of Corporate Treasurers. Although the actual ‘birthday’ of the Association was 15th March, The Treasurer team are producing a special celebratory edition for next month. Research for the ‘key of the door’ edition of this journal has prompted me to re-read Andreas Prindl’s entertaining book ‘The First Fifteen’, which he produced to mark the 15th anniversary. From this book I know that The Treasurer magazine is also 21 years old this year, since two editions of the magazine were produced in 1979. The first chairman of the editorial committee (in those days called the communications committee) was Daniel Hodson. Apparently Daniel used to write a lot of the material for the magazine himself, including the ‘Letters to the Editor’ which he then got signed by various different people in order to stimulate a good debate. Daniel also wrote a column called ‘Treasury Notes’ based on discussions he had with other treasurers. One of the early subjects aired in this column was the disparity between bank charges levied on different companies by different banks. Although many treasurers found this extremely helpful, the reaction from the banks was not enthusiastic. There was a suggestion that the Association was really some kind of pressure group acting on behalf of companies against the bankers. The list of past chairmen of the editorial committee is a roll-call of some of the most illustrious names in treasury management. After Daniel came Stephen Crompton, Robert Carlton-Porter, David Westby, Paul Spencer, Iain Houston, Anthony Stern and then Janine Peake. Coming right up to date, this month’s Spotlight considers the important issue of insurance. Arun Shankardass has assembled an impressive group of authors who provide an excellent assessment of the latest issues in the insurance industry. This month’s International section indulges in a bit of globetrotting, looking at the economic situation in the Far East courtesy of Bijan Aghevli at Chase, treasury risk in Switzerland from Felix Gasser and Carl Mantel at PricewaterhouseCoopers and a summary of German tax development by Klaus Herkenroth of Ashurst Morris Crisp. Readers should also be sure to read Les Halpin’s examination of the effects of FAS 133 on treasury systems. This month we have another new recruit in the office as we welcome Samantha Dunmur in the position of editorial assistant. Due to recent staff changes on the editorial team we still have only one sales executive, Jonathan Ford, working on The Treasurer. Jon is doing an excellent job and we are all extremely grateful to him for his efforts. VALERIE HAWKES
