Treasury Strategy & Transformation
Published  13 MIN READ

Corporate Innovators

The Best and the Brightest of 2021

2021 was arguably one of the most innovative years on record in the world of corporate treasury, based on the standard of entries to the TMI Corporate Recognition Awards. Here, we present a brief overview of the winning projects – which cannot possibly do justice to the magnitude of these initiatives, but nevertheless provides a flavour of the level of innovation and excellence happening in the treasury profession.

The TMI Judges had one of the hardest years deciding which projects to acknowledge in the 2021 Corporate Recognition Awards, given that there were so many outstanding solutions in the mix. Even those entrants that were not ultimately rewarded should be proud of their efforts, as some of the categories were extremely hard-fought.

Cream of the crop

Treasury Team of the Year 2021 had many great entrants and the TMI Judges therefore awarded two Highly Commended winners, as well as the overall champion. The first Highly Commended goes to American private security and protection company, Brink’s. Following an acquisition, the list of achievements by Brink’s four-person treasury team is truly extensive and impressive. In less than a year, the team migrated the banking activities of multiple new entities across nine countries to its partner, Bank of America, transitioning from 40 different cash management banks to one primary global banking provider. By pulling together, the small treasury team also freed up more than $70m in cash in the newly acquired businesses, saving more than $2m in annual interest payments. This huge effort is outlined in more detail on page xx of this Awards supplement.

The second Highly Commended goes to Tata Consultancy Services. The TCS treasury team has undertaken a huge transformation project – one which not only included technology transformation but also touched on the reimagination of business processes. The TMI Judges were particularly impressed that this significant team effort included managing behavioural change among all stakeholders that were part of the project. This collaborative team effort has resulted in seamless treasury operations, increased shareholder value, and improved accuracy and compliance. A true team triumph!