Tom Alford
Deputy Editor, Treasury Management International
Articles
Optimising Working Capital for the Whole Business
Barclays experts explore the impact of unsettled times on working capital management and reveal the role technology has in optimising business outcomes.
When Smart Treasury Meets the Real Economy
In the real economy, where trading activities come face to face with real-world pressures, business strategies and models need to evolve sustainably.
Uniting the House
A rapidly growing portfolio of overseas entities meant consolidation of RTB House’s fragmented bank account structure was essential.
The Currency of Respect
The acquisition by BNP Paribas of currency management automation software provider Kantox is a progressive move for both parties.
AR Plus Technology Equals Resilience
Ben Sepehri, Director (Taulia) examines the increasingly useful role that technology has to play in bringing key AR metrics under control
AR vs Inflation - Bringing Back Control
With cash flow concerns having risen rapidly up the agenda, a sharp but balanced approach to AR is essential.
People in Focus: Alastair Sewell
Hot on the heels of Sewell’s recent appointment as Liquidity Strategist at Aviva Investors, TMI spoke to him about his new role and professional hopes for the future.
Staying Ahead of the Storm: a President’s View
As a passionate advocate for treasury, Dino Nicolaides has taken on the role as ACT President as treasurers the world over face increasingly challenging economic circumstances.
Forecasting Magic: Making the Most of Machines
TMI calls on a brace of expert witnesses to examine the most effective approaches to forecasting.
The Search for Yield
With the business world agitated by rising interest rates, inflation, threats of recession, geopolitical instability, and other uncertainties, is it time for treasurers to revisit their investment policies?
Technology’s Co-Starring Role in Supply Chain Transformation
In the final article of this three-part series taking a working capital perspective on some of the foremost issues of the day, experts from SAP-owned fintech, Taulia – Blake Evans, Head of Sales for Americas,...
Getting Flexible: Treasury’s Response to Deglobalisation
The recent publication of the Deutsche Bank-sponsored Economist Intelligence Unit survey, ‘Manoeuvring uncertainty: Treasury priorities in a volatile, post-pandemic market’, revealed rising macroeconomic concerns...
Sharpening the Competitive Edge
The Future of Treasury Technology Technology has played a key role in shaping corporate treasury over the past few decades, but the best is yet to come. Bank of America’s Dhiraj Bajaj, Head of Financial...
The Need for Speed
How Treasurers are Making the Most of Instant Payments Instant payments is a topic that receives plenty of coverage, often under the assumption that everyone wants and needs it. Is this really the case for...
Taking Care of Business
ESG’s Role in Supply Chain Resilience In the second of this three-part series taking a supply chain finance perspective on some of the foremost issues of the day, experts from Taulia – Blake Evans, Head of Sales...
Continental Shift: Digitalising Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is a vibrant, forward-looking continent where innovation and early digital adoption is practically the norm. There are opportunities to progress at a pace that could outstrip other regions. Esther...
Feel The Fear, And Do It Anyway
My Life in Treasury: Aimee Cullen Aimee Cullen, Head of Treasury, CarTrawler, is on a mission. As a committee member of the Irish Association of Corporate Treasurers (IACT), she is leading an initiative to raise...
Natural Energy
My Life in Treasury: Valentin Popescu For Valentin Popescu, Head of Treasury, Risk and Insurance, OMV Petrom, the rise through the ranks of one of Romania’s largest corporates has presented plenty of opportunities...
Partners in Payment Fraud Prevention
Deutsche Bahn and Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bahn, the largest railway operator and infrastructure owner in Europe, is a complex operation stretching across 14 different business units. The firm’s treasury team worked...
Do No Significant Harm
Navigating Sustainability Standards and Regs Sustainability in treasury can be tackled in a number of ways – and standards are slowly emerging to steer participants in the right direction. Do these help or just...
Purchasing Power
Adding Value with a Treasury/Procurement Partnership When a business’s treasury and procurement teams collaborate, it can transform how that business builds and sustains relationships with suppliers. Andrew...
No Looking Back: Digital Payments and Real-time Transactions for All
Real-time technologies are not intended as stand-alone tools, they require an ecosystem of complementary processes and systems to really reap their benefits. TMI seeks best practice guidance from Bank of America...
Wired for Treasury
My Life in Treasury: Kemi Bolarin Kemi Bolarin, Head of Treasury, Europe, GXO Logistics Inc, has a passion for digital transformation. She believes the arrival of APIs, AI, and RPA in treasury will bring renewed...
What Goes Up… May Stay Up
Blake Evans, Alexander Mutter, and Steve Scott (Taulia) consider the effects of – and the responses to – inflationary pressure on supply chains and working capital flows.
Kingfisher France Targets Big Baskets with BNP Paribas’ Unique A2A Payments Solution
When Europe-wide retailer Kingfisher Group wanted to find a way for higher-spending customers of its Castorama and Brico Dépôt retail home-improvement outlets in France to pay for their goods, BNP Paribas responded...
Breaking New Ground
The pace of payments technology development across APAC is breath-taking. Treasury must understand the scale and significance to harness the benefits.
Is a Treasury Tech Self-Build Feasible?
Treasury is an increasingly technology-enhanced function, and some treasurers have taken their involvement to the next level, building their own solutions. In the company of those who have travelled this path, we...
API Days: From Talk to Action
Since the first APIs started appearing in the bank-to-treasury space a few years ago, driven in part by the open banking revolution, there has been much talk of their transformational power. We consider the reality...
United We Stand: Tackling Cybercrime Together
Cybercrime and fraud are on the rise and new attack vectors are emerging with alarming frequency. Nicolas Trimbour, Head of Fraud Prevention and Chief Data Officer for Cash Management, BNP Paribas, and Laurent Sarrat, CEO at payments security fintech Sis ID, explore the...
How Buyers and Suppliers Can Ride Out Supply Chain Storms
Few could fail to acknowledge the impact of recent supply chain disruptions. But how can businesses large and small manage events that are often outside their direct control? Bringing together its experts from Asia-Pacific, the Americas, and Europe, Taulia explores...
BNP Paribas Connects Webasto Korea to the Global Family
When Germany-headquartered international automotive supplier Webasto Group decided to acquire its long-standing Korean joint venture partner Donghee, some major changes were needed within the local finance function. International banking partner BNP Paribas helped deliver a globally standardised, efficient, and secure cash management operation. Sometimes in business...
Real-Time Transformation: Creating a Connected Financial Office
When data flows are connected, it’s so much easier to make quick and accurate decisions. This is the principle behind the emerging notion of the connected financial office. But how can finance teams achieve the level of unity required to start unlocking the benefits?...
RPA in Treasury: Making Friends with Robots
On behalf of those yet to explore robotic process automation, we ask a brace of technologists to reveal its real advantages and limitations, and speak to one business expert whose organisation is leading the way. &nbs...
Maintaining ESG Momentum at the Heart of Treasury
While sustainability has risen up the corporate agenda at a rapid pace, and many treasurers have taken its practices onboard, there is still more work to be done on both sides of the balance sheet. Two senior executives, drawn from Barclays’ ...
Asyad Group: Full Speed Ahead with Bottomline for Treasury
Evolving from an almost entirely manual treasury set-up to one where the latest technology is being deployed has advantages far beyond process efficiency. TMI talks to Muhsin Alrustom, Group Chief Financial Officer, Asyad Group, to hear just how far ahead of the game...
We Need a Better Solution: A Treasurer’s Legacy Tech Escape Plan
The phrase ‘legacy technology’ may invoke images of ancient and unstable IT systems that must be replaced as soon as possible. But is this always the case, and how easy is it to move away from such ...
A Tale of Two Treasuries
A Guide to Successful M&As Mergers and acquisitions are never guaranteed success at any stage of the process. For their part, treasurers will typically face the practicalities of integration and transition, this bringing its own set of challenges. What can be done...
SCF Optimisation in Three Words: Supplier Relationship Management
Treasury and procurement should be strong partners, especially when it comes to managing supply chain finance. Yet despite the advantages for all parties of such programmes, often there are not enough hours in the day to get the best from them. Enter the third-party...
How to Gain Visibility and Take Control of Payments and Cash
When it comes to payments, cash, liquidity and spend management, bank system independence is both desirable and achievable. Coupa’s Rajiv Ramachandran, Senior Vice President, Product Strategy & Management, Coupa Pay, explains why and how. In a global economy,...
The Future By Design
Lim Soon Chong took over as DBS’ Group Head of Global Transaction Services on 1 August replacing John Laurens, who will be retiring at the end of the year. Lim, who also continues in his role as Head of Digital for DBS’ institutional banking group, spoke to TMI...
The High-Flyer With His Feet On The Ground
My Life in Treasury: Andrea Sottoriva Group Treasurer and Finance Director, SITA Some career paths appear random while others seem to plot a made-to-measure course. And then there are those people who know how to make the best of every occasion. Throughout his years as...
The Thrill of the New
My Life in Treasury: Patrick Kunz Patrick Kunz is an interim treasury and finance consultant. With experience in abundance to share with his clients, he understands that adaptability, a passion for learning, an orderly mind, and boundless energy keep the work flowing...
All-Seeing AI: The Facts About Real-Time Cash Forecasting
A real-time view on corporate cash and liquidity positions has become crucial to optimal decision-making. Yet for many companies still struggling to aggregate their siloed data sources, this might as well be a notion from a work of science fiction. Prepare to open your...
Changing Power and Powering Change
The automotive sector is in the midst of great change as motive power switches progressively from the internal combustion engine to electric. DBS, which is involved in financing this revolution in Asia, talks to TMI about its role in innovating across the supply chain,...
Making Machine Learning Work for Treasury
Machine learning is often seen as the panacea for all modern business challenges. However, while it can be a very useful ally, it won’t fix everything – treasurers will still need to make judgment calls. In the company of ...
Payments Tech: Delivering Strategic Advantage
The payments space has been put to the test over the past 18 months or so as businesses continue to face up to the challenges of the pandemic and intense commercial pressures. As new channels of operation and innovative technologies come on stream, Luc Belpaire,...
A Tidal Force
My Life in Treasury: Inês Faden da Silva As Group Treasurer for Tideway, the utility behind London’s new 25km ‘super sewer’, Inês Faden da Silva is helping to make a positive impact on current and future generations. And thanks to a career that has seen her...
Marketplace Heroes
How Treasurers Can Keep the Cash Flowing Freely Online marketplaces are increasingly seen as one of the most effective ways of leveraging customer and seller relationships. A successful ecosystem requires the provision of a seamless experience for all, creating both...
Building a Better Cash Forecasting Toolkit
Without effective forecasting, companies are essentially flying blind into the future. We look at the role of new technology evolving to help tackle this challenge. While much of the finance function has digitised in recent years it’s fair to assume that most cash...
TIS EPO: Reimagining the World of Enterprise Payments
Treasury Intelligence Solutions’ (TIS) Enterprise Payment Optimization (EPO) takes a vital process, removes its complexities, and improves visibility for every participant in the chain. Stating such a goal is simple. But, as TIS explains, delivering on such a...
Crypto: Can it Ever Be Right for Treasury?
In an era where arguably even normally dependable gilts have shifted from being ‘risk-free returns’ to ‘return-free risks’, have cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin finally become viable assets? Or has recent market turbulence, coupled with regulatory inte...
Schuldschein: Helping SITA Rebuild the Airline Sector
When global air transport infrastructure provider SITA was seeking to extend its cash buffers, Germany’s Schuldschein market caught the eye of its Group Treasurer and Finance Director, Andrea Sottoriva. TMI talks to him about how issuing debt mid-pandemic has been a...
Beyond Technology in Treasury: Leveraging Community Intelligence
Running an efficient, data-driven global treasury is not just a technology play: it’s also about leveraging “community intelligence” and group-wide collaboration. Sounds too involved? It’s easier than you think, says Nikolai Diekert, Director, Product...
From Cash Pools to Clean Energy
Triple-Layered Cash Pool Providing China Three Gorges with Overseas Funds Control CORPORATE RECOGNITION AWARDS Best Cash Pooling Solution – Highly Commended When it comes to demonstrating best practice in global cash management, state-owned enterprise is...
Regulatory Round-up with the EACT
The European financial regulatory environment is one of the most homogenised in the world and yet it still forces corporate treasurers to stay constantly alert for local nuances, revisions and wholesale changes. With the current European Parliament’s term running...
BNP Paribas’ BENEtracker gives L’Oréal’s Beneficiaries Visibility on Incoming Payments
When none of the different parties of an international payment transaction knows where a payment is in transit, fixing any delays is a challenge. L’Oréal, with support from BNP Paribas has created a simple solution that shines a light on every payment-related move,...
Payment Tech Uptake Post-Covid-19 ‘Surprising’ says Deutsche Bank Survey
A new survey by Deutsche Bank of over 200 European treasurers and CFOs highlights the renewed vigour with which new payments technology is being adopted in the wake of the pandemic. TMI asks report author, Marion Laboure, Research Analyst, Deutsche Bank, for a quick...
Connectivity Means Continuity
Calastone Connect Forum 2020 Calastone’s Connect Forum 2020 brought together a quartet of treasury professionals to discuss the role of technology in enabling more efficient cash management while managing risk. With all embroiled in the turmoil of 2020, the need for...
Never a Dull Day
My Life in Treasury with Jeannot Jonas, Assistant Treasurer, Cash & Capital Markets at Carrier Global Corporation Carrier Global Corporation is an $18.6bn S&P 500 company and a global provider of sustainable building and refrigeration solutions. It serves...
Recipe for Success: Building a New World-class Treasury during Lockdown
When Patrick Kunz, Interim Treasury & Finance Consultant, started at Takeaway.com, the treasury function did not exist. Building one from scratch is the dream scenario for many treasurers. But when – on only the third day of this endeavour – the world went into...
A Ringside Seat on Change
My Life in Treasury with Anthony J. Carfang, Managing Director, The Carfang Group Anthony Carfang has a distinguished background in consulting, writing, speaking, thought leadership and advocacy in the areas of treasury management, payments, liquidity and banking. He...
Is it Time to Appoint a Chief Liquidity Officer?
In the current trading environment, where companies really need to have both acute visibility over their financial assets, and the most effective plans to manage them, we ask if the time has finally come for the Chief Liquidity Officer. Never heard of the Chief...
Paper Cuts: Rio Tinto Leverages Blockchain for Trade
With the first fully digital, blockchain-secured end-to-end letter of credit transaction between Nanjing Iron & Steel and Rio Tinto complete, TMI asks Rio Tinto’s Michel Alves, Customer Service Manager, Iron Ore and James Liu, Account Manager, Southern China, to...
ION Treasury: Creating Real-World Opportunities for a Digital Future
Treasurers have much to gain from a co-ordinated programme of digitalisation. With some forethought and planning, the benefits of advanced technologies are there for the taking, says Michael Kolman, Chief Product Officer, ION Treasury. The real...
FX Hedging Strategies for 2021 and Beyond
As new processes and technologies are called upon to help businesses navigate turbulent waters post Covid-19, foreign exchange hedging strategies will need to change too. The latest survey from Kantox, in partnership with TMI, reveals the extent of what’s needed now....
Flying Start: Taming SITA’s Vast and Complex Payments Set-up
As a specialist in air transport communications and information technology, SITA is present in just about every country on the planet. With on-the-ground support for its airline and airport clients an essential part of...
Inbound Payments Tracking: A Game-Changer in the Making
With SWIFT’s cross-border inbound tracking service for gpi becoming the latest addition to the treasurer’s toolkit, Nicolas Cailly, Deputy Head of Payments & Cash Management, Societe Generale, explains the new realms of possibility for treasurers. Receiving...
