Building Resilient Treasury Risk Frameworks in an Ever-Changing Market
Published: April 22, 2026
Market volatility doesn’t always introduce new challenges; it often brings existing ones into sharper focus, creating valuable opportunities to address and improve them. Tom Britton, Head of International Corporate and Global Corporate Product at Tradeweb, reveals the foundations required for a more resilient and future-ready treasury risk framework.
In corporate treasury, gaps in liquidity management, counterparty visibility, and operational flexibility can remain unnoticed during stable periods, only to surface when conditions shift. While each disruption has its own trigger, the underlying pressures placed on treasury frameworks tend to follow familiar patterns.
The market disruption we’ve experienced over recent years has reinforced this dynamic. From the rapid significant flight to safety, liquidity and reallocation into government MMFs during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, to the swift reassessment of banking exposure following the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse in 2023, treasury teams have repeatedly needed to react under pressure.
Today’s environment – shaped by geopolitical uncertainty, evolving regulation, and concerns around interest rate and counterparty risk – suggests that this pattern is far from over. A recent Tradeweb client survey of 120 treasury professionals found that 88% of respondents were moderately to highly concerned with the current geopolitical environment and the risks it poses to their trading and investment decisions. A significant number also expressed concern over existing levels of interest rate risk (84%) and counterparty risk (79%). [1]
At the same time, liquidity dynamics remain front of mind, with MMF balances continuing to rise. Total industry MMF assets increased to $7.86tr. for the week ended Wednesday, March 18, according to the Investment Company Institute. This figure represents an all-time high, and highlights the continued demand for stability and liquidity. Meanwhile, new technologies are also capturing the attention of treasurers, with growing interest in innovations such as tokenised funds and 24/7 markets. Tradeweb’s survey found that 25% of respondents are interested in leveraging tokenised MMFs, while 19% are interested in leveraging stablecoins.
Set against this backdrop, the conversation naturally shifts back to basics – and to a renewed focus on treasury risk frameworks. As corporate treasurers navigate a number of different market dynamics, we believelong-term success in today’s environment rests on five foundational elements,which together form a more resilient and future-ready framework.
First, establishing comprehensive visibility across both market and internal data is vital. Real-time access should be the goal, alongside the ability to aggregate, standardise, and analyse financial information across all entities, institutions, portfolios, and counterparties. Summary reporting is no longer sufficient. Treasury teams must strive for fully integrated and continuously updated datasets that enable granular analysis of risks and exposures on a global scale. The difference between knowing your exposures in hours versus days can be the difference between swift action and crisis management.
Second, in a crisis, flexibility becomes a competitive advantage. Identifying and analysing risk is not enough. Treasury teams must also be structurally positioned to respond. This requires investment policies that permit diversification, banking frameworks that enable rapid asset reallocation, and financial workflows that can be adjusted to support a variety of potential actions. Preparedness is measured not just by awareness but by the availability of options and the ability to pivot quickly when markets shift.
Third, execution speed matters when conditions deteriorate rapidly. Whether reallocating funds, adjusting currency exposure, or increasing liquidity buffers, treasury teams must be able to act without friction. However, speed without governance could present its own hurdles. Automated and efficient workflows create value only when aligned with disciplined strategy and clearly defined policy parameters. Generally, the firms that navigated recent banking crises most effectively were those that could execute decisions within hours, not days.
Fourth, strategic control is the governance layer that unifies visibility, flexibility, and speed. This means clearly defined investment policies, exposure limits, escalation protocols, and documented processes that dictate how capital and data are managed. When these frameworks are well-established and tested rigorously, teams are better equipped to respond to volatility with confidence instead of improvising under pressure. The absence of this governance layer was a critical factor that left many organisations vulnerable during the SVB crisis.
Finally, these structural elements are only as effective as the people applying them. Ongoing education ensures treasury teams understand internal frameworks, remain aligned on execution protocols, and stay informed about evolving market dynamics and technological developments. Prepared organisations invest not only in systems and processes, but in the judgment and readiness of their staff.
The trajectory is clear: markets are moving faster, and risks are emerging more quickly alongside that pace. The next crisis may not look like the last one, but it will likely test the same fundamental capabilities. Treasury teams that invest now in comprehensive data visibility, operational flexibility, workflow efficiency, strategic controls, and employee resources and development will likely be better positioned to navigate whatever challenges come next.
[1] In the weeks following this survey, subsequent client polls taken during early March have seen the number of “highly concerned” responses jump from 48% to 68% in the geopolitical realm, most notably due to rising tensions across the Middle East.