Innovating With the Client, Not Just For the Client

Key treasury developments in Europe, with a special focus on the critical themes and innovations in Belgium and Italy, were the subject of discussion in the TMI podcast studio recently between Michiel Radder, Head of Cash Management, BNP Paribas Fortis, Belgium, and Sergio Ammassari, Global Transaction Banking Tribe Leader, BNL BNP Paribas.

Ask a panel of treasurers what it thinks will be the priorities ahead and more often than not these days the top answer will be cash visibility. A recent BNP Paribas Treasury Board in Belgium, comprising a number of the bank’s corporate clients, confirmed just this, says Radder.

Indeed, he reports a notable need to have a better understanding of financial exposures, as well as a drive to improve cash forecasting, as many treasurers are taking a more proactive stance on the management of excess cash now that interest rate rises are back on the agenda. Many are naturally thinking in terms of the treasury fundamentals, with improving their capital structures and security of funding still hot topics.

Of course, risk mitigation remains to the fore, especially around FX and liquidity, but treasurers are now more acutely aware of the impact on their role of fraud and cyber-security. For Ammassari, there is a necessary balancing act for treasurers to perform as they try to resolve the most appropriate trade-off between rapid innovation in treasury and other functions across the business, and the security of corporate cash and data.

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