Facilitating the Growing Strategic Role of Treasury

by Liba Saiovici, Managing Director, Latin America Product Management Executive, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

The broader remit of corporate treasuries in Latin America has treasurers seeking increased support and advice from banks to help them achieve their goals.

Since the financial crisis, there has been a fundamental shift in the role of the corporate treasurer in Latin America. Where historically treasury was viewed as a support function to the business, taking more of an administrative role focused on day-to-day tasks such as facilitating payments and collections and generating reports, in recent years, that role has transformed from an evolutionary to a much more revolutionary one. Senior management is no longer just looking for reports, but rather looking for an advisory function that can deliver both operational and strategic advantages that are in line with corporate priorities.

A more strategic treasury function within the company is welcome news. By taking a holistic view of the organisation, treasury is improving efficiency and supporting growth while helping reduce risk across the company. But it must be noted that with added responsibility and an increased remit also comes one of the greatest challenges that today’s treasurers’ face: the ability to do more with less from both a human capital and budget resource perspective. So, the ability to generate efficiency wherever possible has become an absolute priority that corporate treasury must balance.

To achieve this, many companies in Latin America are turning to their banks for advice, support, and solutions that enable treasury to embrace the evolution of the function while helping the company achieve its strategic goals.

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