The 2015 ACT’s Treasury Forum, in partnership with HSBC, took place on the afternoon of the ACT Annual Dinner.
Around 150 corporate treasurers from across the UK and continental Europe came together to hear a variety of presentations – on Blockchain and related FinTech issues (including cyber security) – and a lively set of workshops working through some key treasury issues. We took the temperature of the audience and came up with some interesting results
The ACT has of course been active in highlighting the challenges and risks in financial technology innovation with numerous articles in the Treasurer and working with the UK Cabinet Office, over the past 18-24 months.
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A huge margin (83%) felt FinTech developments will affect their treasury work in the short to medium term. Interestingly though the split between those who felt treasurers should get their teeth into leading tech innovation in their businesses was much closer, with 56% thinking it was a significant responsibility with nearer 40% thinking it was less important.
The second part of the afternoon focussed on asking treasurers what were their main concerns in 4 distinct areas.
Each workshop took the form of a moderated discussion – led by the ACT and HSBC – to establish the top 3 areas of real impact in each category. In Investment, for example, the 3 key issues were suggested as looking for feasible alternatives to bank depos / money market funds, the security of cash and regulation driving industry change.
Treasurers felt that when looking at funding and the directly relevant regulatory implications, the 3 most significant points were bank credit availability, bank relationships/managing bank returns (credit facilities often considered as a ‘ticket to the dance’) and making the balance sheet work effectively when using credit.
A spirited panel discussion gave 10 minutes to each topic area before the audience voted on their ONE main issue in each area:
So, there we have it. Treasurers want to protect their cash, they want to drive efficiency in the working capital of their organisations, they are grappling with the impact of regulation on how banks price and allocate credit (and what they want in return) and KYC (and other regulatory issues such as FATCA, ALM and so on) is a real distraction to the treasurer’s role.
Food for thought and a great afternoon’s work!
In partnership with HSBC
