They say that all good things must come to an end. And for me, the end of an era has come because this is the last time that I will be addressing you as editor of The Treasurer. After three highly rewarding years, during which I have really enjoyed working with both the ACT and the broader treasury community, I am stepping down in order to focus on starting my own business. I will continue to follow treasury matters with keen interest, however, and I hope that I will still cross paths with lots of treasurers in the future. Just like the many people that I have interviewed, who have told me that they “fell into treasury, but ended up loving it”, I have had exactly the same experience and I know that the word ‘treasury’ will probably give me a warm glow in my heart for many years to come. Fortunately, though, I am leaving in you in very capable hands, because my successor is Liz Loxton, an experienced finance writer and editor, who earned her journalistic spurs working on well-known finance titles such as Accountancy Age and Insurance Week. You can find out more about her on page 7. Turning to this month’s issue, I am delighted that we are running a profile interview with Ian Chisholm, vice president financial markets at Shell (see page 22). He gives us a fascinating insight into what it is like to work in the treasury function of one of the world’s biggest oil companies, and how treasury helps to influence business strategy. We also take a look at just what the ACT has been doing to help improve professional standards within the financial sector over the past few years, on page 18. You will be proud to see that your association has been very active in a number of areas, including the Hogg Committee that was set up to recommend a new administrator for Libor, the Fair and Effective Markets Review, and the Lambert report that established the Banking Standards Board. Keeping with the topic of standards, we examine what it takes to be a values-led leader in our career feature, starting on page 56. I hope that it offers you some useful pointers as you evolve your own leadership style. Finally, I would like to wish you the very best for the future in all your endeavours. I firmly believe that the world is a better place with treasurers – and the ACT – in it.
