“What do you actually do?” I am often asked. Well, here are some notes about last week…a typical week?
What we do is entirely contingent on what is needed. But broadly speaking, this splits into two categories: dealing with legislators and others on new rules and market practices or keeping members up to date and well informed. Influencing and informing. So the objectives remain but the work changes.
ACT brand descriptors: Building futures, Connecting minds, Enhancing knowledge, Creating advantage, Shaping careers, Giving direction
The ACT brand descriptor attributed to P&T is “giving direction; that we are the authentic voice of the treasury profession, supporting and leading the treasurers of today and tomorrow.” Oh yes! But how does it work out in practice?
Here are a few notes of what I got up to (that can go on the record) for the week commencing March 10 2014 – my colleagues Martin O’Donovan and Michelle Price would extend the list somewhat. And quite a lot of our contact with “the authorities” and others of course can’t be disclosed. Neither can members’ questions to the technical queries service we offer.
In dealing with the authorities we don’t get our own way every time. It is usually our role with regulatory proposals to improve them to what treasurers will probably see as, at least only partially unacceptable (and you should see some of the stuff we head off!)
The topics and issues I am at liberty to mention include banking, foreign exchange, LIBOR (and friends), EMIR (the European derivatives regulation), repos and collateral, UK bank ring-fencing, European Union vs. Member State competencies, long-term corporate financing in Europe, sponsors for UK premium listed companies. It seems a long list but is incomplete. In essence we cover what we can of corporate treasury.
Our role in most of these? To stop the thinking of all involved being exclusively dominated by the financial services industry and retail consumers; to ensure that the impact on industrial and commercial (non-financial) firms are considered; and ultimately to try to make things easier for non-financial firms so that they can understand and influence the legislative/regulatory processes rather than being innocent victims of them.
To nudge things to be easier for non-financial firms
Spring has really arrived – sunshine and blue skies and I walk across St. James Park with birds and spring flowers to spend the morning in a room with no windows inside HM Treasury on Horse Guards Road on their European Union Balance of Competencies Review on the Single Market: Financial Services and the Free Movement of Capital.
Then back to the office for lunch and to catch up with the 189 e-mails I have received since Friday, ‘phone calls and matters of the day.
We agree a position in case we are contacted by journalists about the current foreign exchange scandals – given that the ACT is represented on the Bank of England’s Foreign Exchange Joint Steering Committee, a sub-committee of which is controversial and being discussed by the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee with the Governor and an Executive Director of the Bank of England tomorrow.
I work on the various topics we are juggling until Martin O’Donovan, Deputy Policy & Technical Director and I go down to Canary Wharf for a meeting with the Loan Market Association who develop standard wordings for loan documentation. We discuss a couple of new areas they might work on and other areas of mutual interest.
Back to the office for a working lunch with a credit rating agency that is studying a new area for them as they try to work our whether they could be helpful to non-financial companies in the field.
There is more juggling of workload plus the need to speak to journalists working on the newly controversial area of foreign exchange. I duck out of going down with Martin to Horse Guards Road to see HM Treasury on some of the final details of bank “ring-fencing”. This enables me to field another couple of journalists and progress a some areas where the ACT is likely to issue briefing notes later in the year.
I usually work three days a week for the ACT (though I am doing four this week as we seem to be even busier than usual). So I take Wednesday ‘off.’ Only three or four business calls to take at home and Martin’s lunch-time webinar on EMIR (derivatives) to listen to today.
A morning catching up on incoming e-mail, reading the FCA’s consultation on changes regarding sponsors for listed companies, talking with Martin as he prepares for a meeting of the Bank of England’s Money Market Liaison Group this afternoon, and so on.
Then down with Colin Tyler, ACT Chief Executive and Martin to the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI) with Sir Richard Lambert who is getting near to issuing his review of banking Standards. 92 people. A very good discussion. The ACT has long supported the CSFI that makes a great contribution to the consideration of financial issues. We sponsored this low cost event. It is an important topic. We have already contributed thoughts publicly and privately to Sir Richard’s team. But he is now in final drafting so it is a great opportunity.
Back to the stuff at the office.
A short while at the office, then down to Portcullis House (the parliamentary offices) for meetings for most of the morning.
Back to the office for lunch, e-mails, ‘phone calls etc. Then a meeting in our own offices with Bank of England staff as they update themselves on corporate hedging activity.
And that’s the end of the week.
Impressive: the quality of UK civil servants
Throughout the week, I tweet on a few topics that I think a working corporate treasurer would want to be up on – and I do get a bit out there. Every little helps, I feel. I also try to blog every couple of weeks – something each of us in Policy and Technical try to do, but time pressures can mean it is often hard to give it the priority it deserves.
Of course the above has totally failed to convey the volume of just keeping up and reading that goes with the job – a lot of which is done in our own time and some of which is often as exciting and easy to read as draft European legislation!
So, this was a fairly typical week in many ways but, unusually, one in which the authorities’ agenda meant I was much less involved in any contact with ACT members.
We think the work of ACT Policy and Technical is important. I hope you do to.