Over the years The NeuGroup has facilitated hundreds of treasury practitioner peer group meetings thereby accumulating a wealth of knowledge about all things treasury. And the repositories for much of that wealth? Our very own NeuGroup peer group leaders. They’re the ones who research, benchmark, and facilitate the meetings. Former practitioners themselves, they know treasury. So to start tapping into this resource, the June issue begins our series of Peer Leader Views, in which they discuss their own takeaways from their meetings.
Kicking off this initiative is contributing editor and peer group leader Anne Friberg, who runs several NeuGroups, including two FX Managers’ Peer Groups, The Latin American Treasury Managers’ Peer Group and The European Treasurers’ Peer Group. In “Technology and Tools Elevate Treasury, Motivate Staff” on page 1, Ms. Friberg discusses how the way forward for treasury is to “enable” its rise to a strategic level with technology, which can also help attract and keep talent.
Also in this issue, iTreasurer discusses coming margin requirements, the impact of Russian sanctions over Ukraine as well as a recap of the May EuroFinance conference. And in our continuing series of looking back at iTreasurer’s 20 years, we look at how good bank relationships are as important today as they were in 1994.
In “Regulators to Issue Corporate Margin Requirements Soon,” John Hintze explores coming regulation involving margin. While it is expected corporations will be exempt from the requirements, it is not yet law, and there is still a strong likelihood that some corporations may have to post margin. As pointed out in the story, US and global regulators represented by the Basel Committee see things differently. The US has proposed separate margin requirements for high-risk and low-risk financial end-users, while a Basel working group has recommended just one. How it will play out and who will win the battle remains to be seen.
Speaking of battle lines, Ukraine and Russia continue their rumble in Eastern Europe. In “More Russian Sanctions Threaten Derivatives Markets,” Dwight Cass discusses how further conflict will affect existing derivatives trades. Meanwhile, many hedgers have moved to off-shore non-deliverable forwards for new contracts. Adding to the concerns are the companies and individuals with whom US citizens are barred from doing business.
In “Revisiting Strategies and Partners” Anne Friberg recaps some of her takes from the May EuroFinance meeting in Miami. This year’s event, according to Ms. Friberg, focused on increasing treasury strategies’ value add and improving relations with bank and vendor partners on which companies rely.
Finally, iTreasurer takes a look at how bank relationships continue to be crucial for corporate treasury. In 1994, we wrote that banks can act a good friend when the company needs funding, particularly in a time of crisis. Today, keeping the lines of communication open is just as important because many banks, burdened with new regulations and capital requirements, are somewhat distracted. They’re also more selective about corporate clients. The idea is basic math and the question from them might be stated as: what have you done for me lately? At the same time, lean treasuries don’t want to waste their time either. Managing each other’s expectations is part and parcel of managing the relationship.