My Life in Treasury
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My Life in Treasury: Luis Montesinos Ballesteros, Campofrio

Luis Montesinos Ballesteros with his daughter Sofia
  Luis with his daughter Sofia

An Interview with Luis Montesinos Ballesteros, Director, Tax and Treasury, Campofrio Food Group

This month, Helen Sanders, Editor, talks to Luis Montesinos Ballesteros, Director of Treasury & Tax at Campofrio Food Group, about his career in treasury and his personal and professional values and insights.

How did you first get into treasury, and what attracted you to the profession?

Although I have spent virtually my whole career in corporate treasury, I spent four years in banking. Initially, I worked for Crédit Commercial de France, which was later acquired by HSBC, two years in Madrid while finalising my university degree and then two more years in London after graduating. I then decided to take an MBA, which prompted my decision to pursue a career in finance. My first degree was in law which, together with an MBA, has proved a very useful background to a career in treasury given the range of contracts in which treasury is involved.

How did your career progress to the role you hold now at Campofrio?

Having left banking, I joined Alcatel where I spent 18 years, initially as international credit and collections manager, which was part of the corporate treasury function. This marked the start of my treasury career, and I became involved in a wide variety of activities including trade and project financing, and international export contracts. Given the global nature of the business, this involved a great deal of international travel and operating in a wide range of diverse locations. In addition, I spent two years in Italy, initially as a controller and then in trade and project financing, which also required a lot of travel, particularly to set up new financing structures.