Global Trade Review Q2 edition, April 19 2021
TXF April 20 2021, Katharine Morton
The energy sector is undergoing profound change. Our panel of specialists discuss industry developments, the implications for treasury and why digitisation is critical for success.
“We live in the digital age. Humans and machines need to have a point of connect to create value that neither could create in isolation. Shared Service Centers (SSC’s) create this connection.”
Servo Sawhney, VP, Growth Initiatives, HighRadius
2021 is expected to be a year of rapid improvement, with near-full GDP recovery anticipated by the end of the year. Share valuations suggest investors expect robust revenue and earnings growth. Compared to the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, large companies have the liquidity and capital buffers to pursue a mix of investment, growth, M&A, and shareholder distributions relevant to their strategies. Needless to say, this varies by industry and geography, with smaller companies typically more impacted.
As part of our Citi Treasury Dialogues series, Kanika Thakur, Head of Trade for Asia Pacific at Citi in Hong Kong, reflects on the impact of the pandemic and notes how COVID-19 has fast-tracked digitisation in corporate treasury.
The use of digital solutions in trade finance is increasing, in part due to the disruption to world trade caused by the pandemic. While there are hurdles ahead, the future of trade finance is beginning to take shape. Earlier this year, Citi hosted a webinar to discuss the challenges and opportunities corporates and their financial partners face in the journey to digitise trade. It featured participants from Contour, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Global Trade Review (GTR).
Format wars can be dangerous, ‘winner takes all’ games. No executive at the helm of an incumbent wants to share the fate of Blockbuster or others who have found themselves on the wrong side of format history. The digital payments market could be shaping up as a format war between different representations of digital value. The contest between physical money formats and digital formats is drawing to a close, just as streaming is taking over from physical methods of storing digital music.
Corporates in the Middle East are innovating to improve efficiency, lower costs and enhance risk management by automating their flows at a faster pace.
Disruption isn’t about what happens to you, it’s about how you respond to it, as the saying goes. For treasury departments taking stock of the disruption brought on by Covid-19, this adage may ring true.
Digital content services: Pivoting and succeeding in the digital-led recovery
Even before the pandemic brought far reaching changes in the way business is conducted, a major digital transformation was already taking place. This digital disruption has swept across nearly every business sector and nearly every aspect of business operations.
The commercial card industry is racing to catch up with consumer offerings. Clients will be the beneficiaries, writes Eileen Wende, Commercial Cards: Digital Channels.
Institutional banking clients make no secret about it: they want their banks to deliver service that is fast, easy, and accurate. Even more, they demand support 24X7, as they have come to expect around-the-clock immediacy and convenience based on their experiences as consumers.
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting demand destruction, along with the unusual changes in crude prices through 2020, triggered an acute economic shock across the energy sector as it has for many other industries. These events have enabled strategic, company specific, approaches to environmental initiatives.
The era of real-time treasury is upon us – and treasurers must make the most of digital solutions and smart technologies to help embrace the 24/7 environment. Mark Smith, Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions – EMEA, Citi, provides a whistle-stop tour of the latest innovations for treasurers to get onboard with, while outlining the importance of shifting towards an ‘ecosystem’ mindset and embracing sustainable business practices.
The enablement and adoption of smart treasury techniques is an essential first step towards the transition to real-time operations says Citi’s Dr Duncan Cole, Principal and Digital Journeys Head, Treasury Advisory Group, and Joseph Vasen, Principal, Treasury Advisory Group, Treasury and Trade Solutions.
With numerous moving parts often causing delays in operation, the integration of services in international trade presents a transformative opportunity for everyone in the ecosystem. Offering a way to combine logistics, ordering and financing on one platform, “embedded trade” allows corporates to streamline their services – optimising cashflow and mitigating risks. How is this innovative landscape unfolding and what is its potential to revolutionise supply-chain efficiencies?
Technological advances and 24/7 business will make corporate digital identity increasingly important. But how will it work? What benefits could it deliver? And can challenges such as cybersecurity and data privacy be overcome?
With the pandemic far from over, how can we support our workforces during the pandemic whilst planning ahead for the future? In this article, Citi, together with friends and partners from Accenture, explore some of the lessons learned during Covid-19, which we hope it will help shape our future working lives.
What are the four forces driving real-time treasury? How will they contribute to shaping organizational strategy? We believe these critical forces present a set of specific elements that treasurers should embrace.
When we look ahead at what the payments industry could look like in the future, we inevitably do so in the context of the COVID-19, a human tragedy that has fundamentally changed the way we work, we consume, we engage – and also how we pay.
Businesses around the world are transitioning to new business models. In many instances, their urgency has been accelerated by COVID-19 as conventional distribution channels have been disrupted. One hallmark of many new models is a need to engage more directly with consumers and the consequent prioritization of speed. Through new payment methods, such as instant payments or digital wallets, businesses can better meet consumers’ expectations.
Current momentum, scale and pace of digitization in the payments industry can feel bewildering and overwhelming to treasurers, finance and commercial managers. In this period of rapid transformation, effectively identifying and implementing the most relevant treasury solutions can help corporates to further optimize existing treasury management and unlock new business opportunities. In this article, we look at some practical ways in which digital payment, collection and ancillary solutions are providing new opportunities and additional value to companies across Asia Pacific.
Companies in all industries are forming integrated ecosystems connecting partners, suppliers and customers to provide a cohesive, end-to-end customer experience1. Efficient, frictionless payments and collections play an essential role in achieving this.
The United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) enshrine priorities that are extremely relevant to the region. Africa is the second driest continent in the world and around 340 million Africans have no access to safe drinking water; climate change will exacerbate the situation further; 40% of the 1.4 billion people without access to energy are in sub- Saharan Africa; while up to 95 million unbanked sub-Saharan Africans in the agricultural sector receive cash payments for their produce.
COVID-19 has created significant implications for physical and financial supply chains as corporates reconsider their contingency arrangements and the nature of resilience in the new normal. Innovative solutions and new technologies have the power to support suppliers in a wide range of circumstances and across the payments continuum, while helping to improve efficiency, visibility, and control for both buyers and suppliers.
By taking advantage of new receivables solutions, corporates can better support sales initiatives that drive top-line revenue growth, while reducing manual processes, operational cost, and improving cash flow. COVID-19 has exposed the weaknesses of outdated processes, and has accelerated many digital payment trends. Digital payments and automated processes are no longer a nice to have, but are an absolute necessity.
Every second, Sub-Saharan Africa averages 106 new internet users1. With this enormous consumer transformation, and while the medium and long-term effects of COVOD-19 remain unclear, treasurers are looking ahead, recognising that the untapped potential remains as attractive as ever. Citi talks to regional treasurers from Cummins, Ericsson and The Weir Group about the impacts of COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This article looks at evolving trends across digital native economies and how new technologies are enabling advancements in cross-border payments, unlocking efficiency and improving customer experiences. Topics and trends explored include:
Every company is at a different stage in its journey of payments evolution, depending on their industry, business model, customer profile, the geographies in which they operate and their organizational culture.
As we live through this unchartered territory across the world, the consumer and retail industry has shown incredible flexibility and agility in times of disruption. In many ways, this industry is at the core of sustaining our everyday lives and maximising access to necessities across diverse geographies, buying behaviour and demographics. The resilience and leadership show the true value of the digital sales ecosystem and a few key learnings for future growth.
The initial shock of the Covid-19 pandemic is starting to subside and companies are moving out of crisis management mode into planning for recovery and beyond. Patrick Peters-Bühler, Principal – EMEA, Treasury Advisory Group, Citi, and Yan Li, Senior Adviser – Greater China, Treasury Advisory Group, Citi, explain how corporates can develop strategies to become more resilient in the face of future uncertainty.
Corporates have renewed interest in reexamining usage of their B2B card program to offset falls in their travel spend and rebates while looking for new ways to support their suppliers, many of which face challenges gaining access to liquidity.
Ebru Pakcan has recently been appointed Global Head of Trade, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi. In this candid interview, she speaks about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on trade, and airs her views on the digitisation of trade – from the milestones already reached to the areas still requiring improvement. She also shares her best advice for treasurers when preparing for a return to ‘normal’.
Treasury organisations and finance shared service centres in Central & Eastern Europe are changing: robots are taking over many of the manual tasks once performed by humans. At the same time, Big Data and predictive analytics are becoming more commonplace. But is treasury at risk of being sidelined in the rush to digitise corporate business models?
Business Spend Management platforms have transformed how companies buy goods and services. Now, the integration of Citi Virtual Card Accounts with Coupa Pay is delivering additional efficiency, visibility, and control benefits across the procure-to-pay process, write Gene Cook, Director of Sales & Business Development, Coupa Pay at Coupa Software and Eric Spencer, Global Head of B2B Cards at Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions.
Global trade is having to adapt to unprecedented levels of disruption. Yet by combining elements – including digital – banks can play an important role in keeping business moving.
In a climate of global disruption, which the world has not seen in decades - many companies around the globe are re-evaluating their business models and strategic priorities. For forward-thinking companies, adopting sustainable practices is proving attractive because they are generally more resilient to shocks, more financially robust, and exhibit greater long-term growth potential. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) agendas are fast becoming a way of demonstrating a company’s value and potential.
New technology will liberate company car drivers from carrying multiple fuel cards, and wasting time (and fuel) searching for specific fuel retailers, while offering a modern mobile-first experience. At the same time, it can improve policy compliance, make reconciliation easier and save money for corporates, writes Ritesh Jain, B2B Product Head EMEA, Commercial Cards, Treasury & Trade Solutions at Citi.
Half of the world’s internet users live in Asia Pacific with a median age of just 30 years old. How these digitally savvy consumers pay for goods and services is integral to their digital experience. As a result, Asia has become a crucible, and bellwether, for payment innovation.
Shifting consumer sentiment is influencing large corporates to rethink a variety of business processes from an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) perspective. The Chemical industry is no exception. Thankfully, supplier finance can help identify opportunities for sustainability investment..
This article looks at the disruption to multinational companies and financial institutions caused by Covid-19 exploring themes of digital transformation and new realities for transaction banking. It asks what lessons history can teach us…
While the situation that treasurers and finance leaders globally are dealing with is unprecedented, the cash investment fundamentals remain constant: security; liquidity and risk mitigation. At a time when so many issues seem uncertain, going ‘back to basics’ can create greater certainty and confidence in treasurers’ ability to meet the unknown challenges ahead.
Corporate and institutional treasurers around the globe are facing unprecedented volatility and unpredictability, both in their own business and the wider markets. In this environment, what new perspectives or approaches should treasurers be taking to manage their exposures?
Asia’s payment landscape has crossed an exciting inflection point in the adoption of instant payment solutions across the region, catalyzed by three major trends.
Companies worldwide face an environment of change – ranging from new trade dynamics to evolving business models on the back of digitisation. Ron Chakravarti, Global Head of the Treasury Advisory Group, Citi, explains how corporate treasurers can stay ahead of the curve by reviewing treasury structures, technology and talent.
Fintechs are often in the headlines and for good reason: over the past decade they have transformed the financial services world and changed how many of us communicate, bank, and buy goods and services — both online and offline.
Companies seem to be in a scramble to integrate ESG strategies into their corporate agendas and burnish their green credentials. Can treasury help? Linking ESG practices to good business and enterprise value isn’t new. Fifty years ago, economist Milton Friedman suggested it could be in a corporation’s long-term interest to offer community amenities or improve government to attract employees, reduce wages and achieve other benefits.1 How is this playing out now?
Evolving from a passive back office focused function into a proactive leading-edge business partner, Kenya Airways’ treasury explains how it is leveraging digitisation to meet the changing needs of this innovative carrier.
Commercial cards have gained considerable ground as a payment tool over the past decade among corporates in EMEA and around the world. For companies, they offer certainty of rapid payment, enhanced visibility of data flows, and improvements in procure-to-pay process efficiency. Perhaps most importantly, commercial cards can deliver significant cashflow and working capital benefits as the corporate benefits from the card billing and payment period) and a potential rebate to the corporate based on their spend.
Companies worldwide face an environment of change. Global supply chains are being reconfigured in response to a surge in protectionism and trade interventions. The growth outlook is clouded by geopolitical, regulatory and economic uncertainties. Digital disruption is reshaping industry ecosystems, and innovation has become a focus for investors in valuing companies.1 In response, CEOs are transforming their enterprises through digitization.
The subscription model can revolutionise supply chains in a way that breaks down sectoral, geographic and cultural barriers, suggests Jan Metzger, Head of Asia Pacific Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory.
In a world full of seemingly rapid-fire change, it is often slow change that brings about the most paradigm-altering transformations, says Vanessa Colella, Chief Innovation Officer at Citi and Head of Citi Ventures.
Go back five or ten years and the idea that a consumer could influence a bank’s behaviour would sound like a fairy tale. Now, the challenge for not just financial services but all industries, is closing the loop between customer feedback and business model innovation, says Will Ross, Head of Digital Channels and Experience, Hong Kong.
The shift to an engagement economy requires leaders to rethink old assumptions about revenue and customer loyalty
In a new study, Citi estimates that 700 – 800 million people will be banked for the first time by 2022, compared to 2017. When we consider that there are 1.7 billion adults worldwide who are unable to use safe, affordable financial services to save for emergencies or grow a small business, a 700 million change is staggering.
The pace of technological change in the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Turkey (MENAPT) is accelerating. Smartphones are part of everyday life for millions of people, and corporates across the region are embracing e-commerce opportunities and new business models. At the same time, there is a vibrant fintech scene, with innovative ideas transforming how people and companies interact with each other and make payments.
Commercial cards offer buyers and suppliers numerous benefits. But to realize their full potential and extend their reach, card providers must work with payment facilitators, platforms and other fintechs to offer integrated solutions that deliver incremental value to all parties, writes Sébastien Delasnerie, Head of Commercial Cards, North America at Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions.
As trade finance evolves, the focus seems to be shifting to receivables finance, opening up potential new opportunities for corporate clients and banks to help increase volumes, reach a wider range of buyers and improve working capital efficiency, according to Citi’s Adoniro Cestari, Global Head of Trade Finance and Sanjeev Ganjoo, Global Head of Trade Receivable Finance.
As we enter a new decade, treasurers must learn how to juggle their traditional responsibilities alongside the new reality of disrupted business models and game-changing technologies, says Steve Elms, EMEA Region Sales Head, Corporate and Public Sector, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi. Proactive engagement with treasury stakeholders – existing and new – will be paramount, together with sustainable business practices and a healthy dose of creative thinking.
In a world full of seemingly rapid-fire change, it is often slow change that brings about the most paradigm-altering transformations, says Vanessa Colella, Chief Innovation Officer at Citi and Head of Citi Ventures.
Marking Citi’s 10th anniversary of its Asia Pacific Commercial Payments Summit, Citi has partnered with The Economist Intelligence Unit to produce this bespoke report surveying 210 C-suite and travel managers in Asia Pacific. The report sheds light on the impacts of technological disruption on corporate travel and how our clients have transformed their business practices utilising new technologies.
We’ve heard the saying and we know it is true. But what does this mean? What is the impact of data on the Commercial Cards industry?
Instant payments are gaining traction, with a growing number of countries introducing solutions. ‘Real time’ looks set to become the new payment standard in the near future, bringing significant benefits for consumers and corporates.
The world is changing. Fifteen years ago, it seemed that corporate CEOs were leading their companies in a time of stronger global economic growth. Not surprisingly, capturing that growth was a key priority. Today’s environment appears different – growth is still a priority, but it can be harder to achieve as the global economy slows. Today’s corporate leadership appears to be shifting priorities, and new metrics to measure success have emerged. In the current environment, efficiency is a key focus.
Trade in Asia-Pacific – and globally – is being transformed by geopolitical trends and increased intra-regional activity. Banks must respond by changing the ways they support clients and by investing in innovation, according to Vishal Kapoor, Head of Trade, Asia Pacific at Citi.
Corporate business models have undergone substantial changes during the past few years. The most significant driver is digital disruption, which has seen young companies growing at amazing speed by leveraging innovative business models.
Today, high-performing organizations are looking for ways to manage their working capital more efficiently. This includes identifying opportunities to tap into additional sources of funding, boost operational efficiency, and increase profitability.
At a time of change, Treasurers can add tremendous shareholder value by engaging in strategies to enhance working capital management.
Digitization continues to disrupt and transform organizations of every size and in every industry, as consumers, employees and partners alike expect everything to be on demand and fully connected. As a result, every company and in every industry is highly motivated to make digital transformation a reality. As a leader in digital banking*, Citi is focusing on helping clients achieve this transition in a frictionless and efficient way. While traditionally our dialogue with clients has been with individual departments such as treasury, banking services are now becoming integral to clients’ commercial proposition, expanding this dialogue to the chief digital officer.
The subscription revenue model is no stranger to today’s businesses. The publishing and media industries, for example, have been honing it for a century, if not longer.
India is leading the next ‘mega-shifts’ propelled by digital transformation. A very significant reality of today’s hyper-connected world is the understanding that what got us here will not get us to where we aim to go next. Technology will drive a deep fundamental mega-shift in banking, leading to the era of an ‘invisible bank’. Our world will change more in the next 20 years, than it has in the past 200 years.
The Case for Federated Bank ID
Are you receiving me? Exploring the ‘dark side’ of the balance sheet
Working capital has always been the lifeblood of a company. Faced with a myriad of macroeconomic and business challenges, corporates across a wide variety of sectors are looking for new ways to drive sales. As a result, many are looking within to harness working capital efficiencies.
Commerce is being conducted around the clock. Supply chains are more global than ever. Payments are growing in volume and gaining speed at an exponential rate, with “instant” promising to become the new norm. However, faster speeds and higher volumes also increase the risk of processing anomalous payments caused by fraudulent activities or operational errors, for example. Preventing outlier payments can be akin to looking for a needle in haystack, and a simple human error can cost companies revenue, precious time or both.
Trump’s trade wars, Brexit, and geopolitical strife is boosting Citigroup’s trade finance business.
Application programming interfaces (APIs) are transforming the way institutions are conducting business. This digital technology is allowing companies and banks to be more agile and bring innovations to market faster, meeting the needs of their customer base. In fact, Forbes reports that 80 percent of large enterprises are already generating more than $5 million a year from APIs.
Treasury is on the verge of a great change. It is being driven by a technological revolution that will alter the way it operates. The recent past has witnessed the first steps of treasury’s journey to digitisation, with the use of different technologies such as the banking platform, treasury management systems and trading platforms. These are now considered the standard for best in class operations. Yet, treasury processes are far from being entirely automated or digitised. In some cases, a high level of manual intervention is still required in treasury operations.
Looking from the outside in, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region still conjures up numerous business stereotypes – from entirely paper-based payment workflows to over-dependence on oil as a driver of economic growth. On the ground, however, these stereotypes are being swiftly overturned as governmental visions for a digital and sustainable future are embraced by citizens and corporates alike.
The Supply Chain – a simple enough concept that grows in complexity depending on suppliers, geographies, and relationships – can either be an accretive asset to a company’s balance sheet, or a drag on resources. Getting the right model in place and moving from a cost center to a profit center is at the heart of every Finance team’s goals. Citi is applying some new perspectives, harnessing the benefits of a Platform-based strategy, to create partnerships and innovations in the market to translate this vision into reality.
The Central and Eastern European (CEE) region has long established itself as a prime location for centralizing treasury and trade functions through Shared Service Centres (SSC). The region is rich with resources due to its highly educated, multi-lingual workforce; investment in technology and infrastructure, and its advantageous location bridging east and west time zones in the heart of Europe.
Citi remains the name to beat in regional transaction services.
In an industry of fast-paced change, this is the bank that is not only engaged with but driving change for the benefit of its customers.
New technologies offer potential cost savings, efficiency gains and control benefits for shared service centers (SSCs). However, corporates need to plan carefully to realize their goals.
To be ‘in your element’ means to be right where you want to be, where you can deploy your skills and expertise to achieve your objectives.
By harnessing the vast amounts of data available, technology promises to simplify everything we do by understanding our needs and preferences, and offering insightful recommendations or reducing mundane tasks.
Africa is a continent of vast opportunity. But leveraging the African success story requires genuine insight into the disruptive trends that are helping to shape Africa’s transformation. A recent Citi roundtable highlighted how treasury is evolving on both sides of the continent, and how treasurers can play a role in putting Africa firmly on the corporate map.
Immediate payments are quickly becoming the norm in today’s hyper-connected world.
Preparing for a real-time world, open banking regulation and cyber risk will be top challenges banks face in the next 1-3 years – according to Lola Adebanji.
The sectors of technology, media and telecommunications are among the most dynamic and for treasurers operating in these intertwining sectors, staying ahead of the curve is essential. With some game-changing announcements at February’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona – the telecommunications industry’s main event of the year – arguably the hottest of topics was the gathering momentum behind the roll-out of 5G mobile.
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, robotics, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are just some of the technology trends that are viewed to be fueling a digital transformation that is expected to influence nearly every sector and every region of the globe.
A 'hidden asset' at Citigroup has given the bank a dominant position in the fastest-growing business on Wall Street — but challengers are knocking at the door
Mobile banking, with its incremental security features, increases institutions’ productivity and enhances users’ convenience. Companies that delay the adoption are missing out on the convenience of mobile technologies and putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage.
The use of supply chain finance, sales finance and electronic trade loans can help provide corporates with a valuable toolset to navigate today’s unpredictable geopolitical landscape.
Digitisation has transformed many industries over recent years. Treasurers in Pharma and FMCG industries should begin reaping the benefits.
Driven by digitization, connectivity and collaborative ecosystems, many industries are seeing longstanding boundaries blurring or dissolving altogether. The art of the possible is expanding, opening the door to entirely new business models. Treasury needs to adapt to the impacts on liquidity, funding and risk management needs as new business models change the company. This has already been happening in some industries and seems set to become even more pervasive.
The recently enacted U.S. Tax Reform legislation is the most sweeping change to the tax code since President Reagan signed the Tax Reform Act in 1986. Commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“The Act”), this new law holds profound implications for businesses, particularly multinational corporations based in the U.S. The Act is specifically designed to remove the “lock out” effect for bringing back large amounts of capital that have accumulated offshore for decades with the intention of encouraging U.S. corporations to spend these funds in the U.S. to spur job creation and to expand the manufacturing base.
Digital transformation is shaping our world to an extent that we have not seen since the industrial revolution; arguably, however, the potential for change is even greater, ultimately across every industry and every region. Not only are new technologies being used to automate existing processes, but we are seeing fundamental changes in the way that businesses engage, transact and exchange value with customers and suppliers, how they use data to shape their value proposition and the emergence of entirely new industries.
In every industry, technology is making possible things that once seemed impossible. Terry Dennis, EMEA Cash Management Sales Head, Corporate and Public Sector, Treasury and Trade Solutions at Citi, explores how new technology is accelerating change and creating new opportunities within corporate treasury.
Over the past decade, many corporates have adjusted their financing strategies as the availability and cost of capital have changed due to a number of factors, including market, regulatory and economic transformations.
As treasury capabilities continue to mature in 2018, regularly re-evaluating corporate strategies and counterparties will be imperative. Only by capitalising on increasingly sophisticated developments such as instant payment systems, data analytic tools and by working with the right partners to support growth, can the new era of corporate treasury in Africa truly take shape. Geoffrey Gursel, Sub-Saharan Africa Sales and Implementations Head, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi, explains why 2018 is the perfect time to review and refine treasury operations in Africa, whilst maximising the value of bank relationships across the continent.
Building "on behalf of structures" to create enterprise-wide value at Roche
2017 has been dubbed the year of the API economy. Organizations are increasingly tying executive performance results with the creation of new business models that rely on new technology and IT platforms. This is a trend that is expected to accelerate in the near future. Various technology companies have disrupted their respective marketplaces, having utilized Application Programming Interface (API) technology, and today's financial services industry is just now embracing these new technologies that promise to transform the business.
Corporate treasury teams should prioritize setting a strategy for using data and digitization to transform how they operate, writes Ron Chakravarti, global head of treasury advisory, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi. Meanwhile, Martin Schlageter, head of treasury operations at Roche, explains how digitization is core to shaping what treasury achieves...
In this edition, Steve Elms continues his annual series in which he outlines his thoughts for the year ahead. In recent years, the focus has been managing risk and improving efficiency during an extended period of uncertainty and turbulence. As Steve describes, the forecast for 2018 seems brighter, and treasurers need to support and facilitate growth without being complacent about ongoing instability and risk.
The biggest trend in financial services right now is not fintech nor the blockchain; it is the move from batch to real-time. This is the view of Tony McLaughlin, Managing Director, Emerging Payments and Business Development, Treasury and Trade Solutions at Citi. In this article, he charts a course for the payments industry, providing some action points for treasurers.
China'S Belt and Road initiative brings wide-ranging opportunities for neighbouring countries, particularly their business and finance sectors, as David Aldred, Yusuf Ali Khan and Jagadeshwaran Kothandapani explain.
While the consumer and healthcare sectors are driven by different dynamics, both face pressure on margins. By leveraging cash and treasury management solutions, the treasurer can play a critical role in countering these challenges, according to Peter Cunningham, EMEA Head of Consumer & Healthcare Sales, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi.
In November 2016, Ebru Pakcan was appointed as Citi’s Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) for the EMEA region. Based in London, Pakcan is responsible for leading and developing the EMEA TTS franchise and driving business throughout the region. Here she shares her experiences of her first few months in the role and outlines how Citi aims to build on its success in the region.
The EU's revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) will be implemented in January 2018 and provide non-banks with free access to payment initiation from bank accounts, subject to account holder consent. PSD2 creates a new Request to Pay (RTP) capability that is of significant interest to merchants and to the fintechs providing them with payment services.
The past year has seen particularly strong levels of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as corporations across a wide range of industries seek to boost growth, fuelled by a combination of large cash reserves and low funding costs. Treasury has a key role to play in the success of M&A transactions, from funding and monitoring acquisition flows upfront through to optimising liquidity, treasury operations and risk management in the longer term. In this article, Terry Dennis and Declan McGivern discuss some of the factors that help treasurers to contribute to M&A success.
In a time of great change, corporate treasury professionals in Asia Pacific need not only a bank, but a banking partner. In this article, Citi outlines how it is supporting its clients in new and imaginative ways across cash, liquidity and trade.
Every organization operating internationally, whether a large multinational or a small/medium-sized enterprise, is obliged to manage foreign currency (FX) payment obligations, and the associated risks. This brings particular challenges in Asia Pacific given the differences in currency dynamics and regulatory conditions across the region. Furthermore, smaller companies typically lack the treasury resources and expertise of their larger peers, but companies of all sizes face the issue of managing multiple currencies in a volatile environment