Eurofinance 2018: Tech adventures in treasury
“The Treasurer: Agent of change”, a session sponsored by Deutsche Bank, considered how treasurers can best prepare for the industry disruption stemming from technological evolution.
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The Future is Now: How Ready is Treasury?
The Corporate Treasury viewpoint: An interview with Johan Bergqvist, Vice-president, Treasury, Spotify
The Future is Now: How Ready is Treasury?
The traditional role, structure and staffing of treasury are being challenged on all sides. Customers, supply chains, banks and transaction services providers alike are being disrupted by digitalisation and new technologies. Corporate treasurers face the direct challenges of new compliance, tax and regulatory initiatives in Europe, the US and elsewhere while coping with the ongoing evolution of their own companies’ existing business models.
These changes create a dilemma for treasury. Treasury cannot de-emphasise its core functions of cash and liquidity management, accounts payable/accounts receivable (AP/AR) oversight, funding, and financial risk management. But at the same time, it has progressed from being a transaction and reporting centre to a more strategic risk holder and analytics centre of excellence. This strategic evolution means treasury has to mobilise new automation technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, open application programming interfaces (APIs), and cloud services if it is to free up resources and add more value.
The future of best practice in treasury is inextricably linked to next-generation data analysis. Treasury is the company’s natural financial data depository and analytics engine for future planning. However, to take on this strategically important role, treasurers will have to go beyond their traditional finance training. They will need to embrace wider software engineering, data science and project management skills themselves or at least be able to lead a team that includes those disciplines.
So, do treasurers understand the nature of the challenge? Are they ready for a future that is, in many ways, already here?
Our survey results suggest that while some companies are well advanced in their preparations, others are, at best, ambivalent about the profundity of the changes they face. Some do not believe that disruption affects them. Others seem complacent about the new skill sets and knowledge that treasury will require to function well within this new environment. Most of the respondents were unable to think about the “unknown unknowns”; they believe that existing systems are the future of treasury technology and existing functions will be the main areas that new developments in AI, blockchain/ distributed ledger technology and automation will be applied.
The survey results indicate a growing divergence between those treasurers possessing the resources that enable a longer term strategic view and those forced to solely focus on traditional tasks, leaving them vulnerable to decisions taken by their more strategic thinking CFOs and CIOs.
Key findings
Disruption is real and the causes are manifold. More than 55% of treasuries say that their company is changing operational models as a result of sector disruption and that this is having a knock-on effect on treasury. Business models are being disrupted from all sides. Treasurers see the most disruptive influences as multi-channel payments (47%), mobile-based solutions (43%) and changes in supply-chain product life cycles (41%). Respondents are highly confident that they have the right skill sets in their teams to respond to the rapid pace of technological change. The vast majority (80%) of treasurers believe they have all or the majority of the skills necessary to meet the challenges posed by ongoing technological change. Stay with what we know. Treasurers overwhelmingly believe that treasury management systems (TMS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems will remain the core of treasury technology, with 35% and 36% respectively choosing existing TMS and ERP systems as the most useful technologies. Treasury is still hesitant to fully embrace the cloud; however, 31% of treasurers would consider moving in-house systems to it. Treasury is behind the open API curve. Although treasury recognises the benefits of big data analytics, with 56% of respondents citing it as one of the most beneficial new technologies, only 13% are thinking about open APIs. US tax reforms challenge corporate treasurers. The top regulatory concern for respondents is US tax reform, cited by 28% of respondents. Other regulatory concerns, each cited by 25% of respondents, were anti-money laundering (AML), know-your-customer (KYC) regulations and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
The shifting landscape of global wealth: Future-proofing prosperity in a ti...
In some instances the impact of this shift will be shaped by local factors, such as demographic changes. In other instances this shift will reflect shared characteristics, as demonstrated by the greater popularity of overseas investing among younger high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) brought up in an era of globalisation. Whatever the drivers, the landscape of wealth is changing—from local to global, and from one focused on returns to one founded on personal values.
Despite rising economic concerns and a tradition of investor home bias in large parts of the world, the new landscape of wealth appears less interested in borders. According to a survey commissioned by RBC Wealth Management and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), younger HNWIs are substantially more enthusiastic about foreign investing. The U.S. is a particularly high-profile example of a country where a long-standing preference for investments in local markets appears set to be transformed.
Click the thumbnail below to download the global executive summary.
Read additional articles from The EIU with detail on the shifting landscape of global wealth in Asia, Canada, the U.S. and UK on RBC's website.
Whose Customer Are You? The Reality of Digital Banking in Europe
Europeans spent May 2018 dealing with email pleas from companies begging them to stay friends. Thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), over half a billion EU citizens now wield more power over who holds data on them and what companies can do with that valuable information.
At the same time, the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) is making its presence felt. It aims to encourage competition by allowing non-bank players to access customer bank account information and to initiate payments.
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Related content
The shifting landscape of global wealth: Future-proofing prosperity in a ti...
In some instances the impact of this shift will be shaped by local factors, such as demographic changes. In other instances this shift will reflect shared characteristics, as demonstrated by the greater popularity of overseas investing among younger high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) brought up in an era of globalisation. Whatever the drivers, the landscape of wealth is changing—from local to global, and from one focused on returns to one founded on personal values.
Despite rising economic concerns and a tradition of investor home bias in large parts of the world, the new landscape of wealth appears less interested in borders. According to a survey commissioned by RBC Wealth Management and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), younger HNWIs are substantially more enthusiastic about foreign investing. The U.S. is a particularly high-profile example of a country where a long-standing preference for investments in local markets appears set to be transformed.
Click the thumbnail below to download the global executive summary.
Read additional articles from The EIU with detail on the shifting landscape of global wealth in Asia, Canada, the U.S. and UK on RBC's website.
Fintech in ASEAN
To better understand the opportunities and challenges in developing a fintech business in seven ASEAN markets, The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted wide-ranging desk research supplemented by seven in-depth interviews with executives in Australia and ASEAN.
Download report and watch video interview to learn more.
Risks and opportunities in a changing world
Read our Taxing digital services, U.S. tax reform: The global dimension, & Planning for life after NAFTA articles by clicking the thumbnails below.
Whose Customer Are You? The Reality of Digital Banking in North America
People now expect more from their bank than they did even five years ago. As North Americans become ever more used to turning to the digital world for all aspects of their lives, the need for banks to make their online service offerings as good as their offline services, eg, mortgages and pension planning, seems obvious. These changing customer behaviours and demands should be fuelling change in the services and products retail banks offer their current clients. It should also be influencing their thinking in how they reach out to new clients.
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Related content
The shifting landscape of global wealth: Future-proofing prosperity in a ti...
In some instances the impact of this shift will be shaped by local factors, such as demographic changes. In other instances this shift will reflect shared characteristics, as demonstrated by the greater popularity of overseas investing among younger high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) brought up in an era of globalisation. Whatever the drivers, the landscape of wealth is changing—from local to global, and from one focused on returns to one founded on personal values.
Despite rising economic concerns and a tradition of investor home bias in large parts of the world, the new landscape of wealth appears less interested in borders. According to a survey commissioned by RBC Wealth Management and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), younger HNWIs are substantially more enthusiastic about foreign investing. The U.S. is a particularly high-profile example of a country where a long-standing preference for investments in local markets appears set to be transformed.
Click the thumbnail below to download the global executive summary.
Read additional articles from The EIU with detail on the shifting landscape of global wealth in Asia, Canada, the U.S. and UK on RBC's website.
Fintech in ASEAN
To better understand the opportunities and challenges in developing a fintech business in seven ASEAN markets, The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted wide-ranging desk research supplemented by seven in-depth interviews with executives in Australia and ASEAN.
Download report and watch video interview to learn more.
Risks and opportunities in a changing world
Read our Taxing digital services, U.S. tax reform: The global dimension, & Planning for life after NAFTA articles by clicking the thumbnails below.
A view from the top: Holistic spend management for financial control
Yet, as industries are disrupted and business models evolve, developing a targeted spend management strategy is vital to supporting CFOs’ efforts to achieve the business’s financial goals, including profitability. In our conversations with the CFOs of two major corporations— steel manufacturer Essar Steel and insurance firm Sun Life Financial—two themes emerged that seem to underpin these efforts: the role of digitalisation and open communication with internal and external stakeholders.
The need for a holistic view
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Related content
The shifting landscape of global wealth: Future-proofing prosperity in a ti...
In some instances the impact of this shift will be shaped by local factors, such as demographic changes. In other instances this shift will reflect shared characteristics, as demonstrated by the greater popularity of overseas investing among younger high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) brought up in an era of globalisation. Whatever the drivers, the landscape of wealth is changing—from local to global, and from one focused on returns to one founded on personal values.
Despite rising economic concerns and a tradition of investor home bias in large parts of the world, the new landscape of wealth appears less interested in borders. According to a survey commissioned by RBC Wealth Management and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), younger HNWIs are substantially more enthusiastic about foreign investing. The U.S. is a particularly high-profile example of a country where a long-standing preference for investments in local markets appears set to be transformed.
Click the thumbnail below to download the global executive summary.
Read additional articles from The EIU with detail on the shifting landscape of global wealth in Asia, Canada, the U.S. and UK on RBC's website.
Fintech in ASEAN
To better understand the opportunities and challenges in developing a fintech business in seven ASEAN markets, The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted wide-ranging desk research supplemented by seven in-depth interviews with executives in Australia and ASEAN.
Download report and watch video interview to learn more.
Risks and opportunities in a changing world
Read our Taxing digital services, U.S. tax reform: The global dimension, & Planning for life after NAFTA articles by clicking the thumbnails below.
Smoothing out the fluctuations of working capital
The task is particularly timely at the present point in the economic cycle. Led by the US Federal Reserve, central banks are tightening monetary policy and increasing interest rates. As a result, companies will need to put idle cash to work and manage their debt levels accordingly. Payables and receivables, which make up over half of working capital figures on average, as well as cash conversion cycles, are bound to become top of mind for finance functions dealing with increasingly complex global supply chains.
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Related content
The shifting landscape of global wealth: Future-proofing prosperity in a ti...
In some instances the impact of this shift will be shaped by local factors, such as demographic changes. In other instances this shift will reflect shared characteristics, as demonstrated by the greater popularity of overseas investing among younger high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) brought up in an era of globalisation. Whatever the drivers, the landscape of wealth is changing—from local to global, and from one focused on returns to one founded on personal values.
Despite rising economic concerns and a tradition of investor home bias in large parts of the world, the new landscape of wealth appears less interested in borders. According to a survey commissioned by RBC Wealth Management and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), younger HNWIs are substantially more enthusiastic about foreign investing. The U.S. is a particularly high-profile example of a country where a long-standing preference for investments in local markets appears set to be transformed.
Click the thumbnail below to download the global executive summary.
Read additional articles from The EIU with detail on the shifting landscape of global wealth in Asia, Canada, the U.S. and UK on RBC's website.
Fintech in ASEAN
To better understand the opportunities and challenges in developing a fintech business in seven ASEAN markets, The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted wide-ranging desk research supplemented by seven in-depth interviews with executives in Australia and ASEAN.
Download report and watch video interview to learn more.
Risks and opportunities in a changing world
Read our Taxing digital services, U.S. tax reform: The global dimension, & Planning for life after NAFTA articles by clicking the thumbnails below.
Whose Customer Are You? The Reality of Digital Banking in the Middle East and Africa
Africa and the Middle East share many common features: young populations, high smartphone penetration rates, and problems with unequal access to banks and banking services, particularly in rural areas. These demographically young and fast-growing regions include hundreds of millions of consumers who are growing up with a deep attachment to their phones and the benefits that the internet has to offer. Historically, banks across the Middle East and Africa may have been slow to react to the demographic and technological changes around them, but this is no longer the case.
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Related content
The shifting landscape of global wealth: Future-proofing prosperity in a ti...
In some instances the impact of this shift will be shaped by local factors, such as demographic changes. In other instances this shift will reflect shared characteristics, as demonstrated by the greater popularity of overseas investing among younger high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) brought up in an era of globalisation. Whatever the drivers, the landscape of wealth is changing—from local to global, and from one focused on returns to one founded on personal values.
Despite rising economic concerns and a tradition of investor home bias in large parts of the world, the new landscape of wealth appears less interested in borders. According to a survey commissioned by RBC Wealth Management and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), younger HNWIs are substantially more enthusiastic about foreign investing. The U.S. is a particularly high-profile example of a country where a long-standing preference for investments in local markets appears set to be transformed.
Click the thumbnail below to download the global executive summary.
Read additional articles from The EIU with detail on the shifting landscape of global wealth in Asia, Canada, the U.S. and UK on RBC's website.
Fintech in ASEAN
To better understand the opportunities and challenges in developing a fintech business in seven ASEAN markets, The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted wide-ranging desk research supplemented by seven in-depth interviews with executives in Australia and ASEAN.
Download report and watch video interview to learn more.
Risks and opportunities in a changing world
Read our Taxing digital services, U.S. tax reform: The global dimension, & Planning for life after NAFTA articles by clicking the thumbnails below.
Impact Investing: the broad vs narrow view
Related content
The shifting landscape of global wealth: Future-proofing prosperity in a ti...
In some instances the impact of this shift will be shaped by local factors, such as demographic changes. In other instances this shift will reflect shared characteristics, as demonstrated by the greater popularity of overseas investing among younger high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) brought up in an era of globalisation. Whatever the drivers, the landscape of wealth is changing—from local to global, and from one focused on returns to one founded on personal values.
Despite rising economic concerns and a tradition of investor home bias in large parts of the world, the new landscape of wealth appears less interested in borders. According to a survey commissioned by RBC Wealth Management and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), younger HNWIs are substantially more enthusiastic about foreign investing. The U.S. is a particularly high-profile example of a country where a long-standing preference for investments in local markets appears set to be transformed.
Click the thumbnail below to download the global executive summary.
Read additional articles from The EIU with detail on the shifting landscape of global wealth in Asia, Canada, the U.S. and UK on RBC's website.
Fintech in ASEAN
To better understand the opportunities and challenges in developing a fintech business in seven ASEAN markets, The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted wide-ranging desk research supplemented by seven in-depth interviews with executives in Australia and ASEAN.
Download report and watch video interview to learn more.
Risks and opportunities in a changing world
Read our Taxing digital services, U.S. tax reform: The global dimension, & Planning for life after NAFTA articles by clicking the thumbnails below.
Related content
The shifting landscape of global wealth: Future-proofing prosperity in a ti...
In some instances the impact of this shift will be shaped by local factors, such as demographic changes. In other instances this shift will reflect shared characteristics, as demonstrated by the greater popularity of overseas investing among younger high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) brought up in an era of globalisation. Whatever the drivers, the landscape of wealth is changing—from local to global, and from one focused on returns to one founded on personal values.
Despite rising economic concerns and a tradition of investor home bias in large parts of the world, the new landscape of wealth appears less interested in borders. According to a survey commissioned by RBC Wealth Management and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), younger HNWIs are substantially more enthusiastic about foreign investing. The U.S. is a particularly high-profile example of a country where a long-standing preference for investments in local markets appears set to be transformed.
Click the thumbnail below to download the global executive summary.
Read additional articles from The EIU with detail on the shifting landscape of global wealth in Asia, Canada, the U.S. and UK on RBC's website.
Fintech in ASEAN
To better understand the opportunities and challenges in developing a fintech business in seven ASEAN markets, The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted wide-ranging desk research supplemented by seven in-depth interviews with executives in Australia and ASEAN.
Download report and watch video interview to learn more.
Risks and opportunities in a changing world
Read our Taxing digital services, U.S. tax reform: The global dimension, & Planning for life after NAFTA articles by clicking the thumbnails below.
The new world of regtech in managing regulatory data
Regtech can help by automating what would otherwise be tactical and manual processes—such as data collection and reporting—and making these tasks more cost effective, efficient and strategic. Advances in areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning make it possible to automatically parse through regulatory filings, track employee compliance and more. Advanced regtech analytics solutions can also match and cleanse data from various legacy systems quickly and accurately.
17089
Related content
The shifting landscape of global wealth: Future-proofing prosperity in a ti...
In some instances the impact of this shift will be shaped by local factors, such as demographic changes. In other instances this shift will reflect shared characteristics, as demonstrated by the greater popularity of overseas investing among younger high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) brought up in an era of globalisation. Whatever the drivers, the landscape of wealth is changing—from local to global, and from one focused on returns to one founded on personal values.
Despite rising economic concerns and a tradition of investor home bias in large parts of the world, the new landscape of wealth appears less interested in borders. According to a survey commissioned by RBC Wealth Management and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), younger HNWIs are substantially more enthusiastic about foreign investing. The U.S. is a particularly high-profile example of a country where a long-standing preference for investments in local markets appears set to be transformed.
Click the thumbnail below to download the global executive summary.
Read additional articles from The EIU with detail on the shifting landscape of global wealth in Asia, Canada, the U.S. and UK on RBC's website.
Fintech in ASEAN
To better understand the opportunities and challenges in developing a fintech business in seven ASEAN markets, The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted wide-ranging desk research supplemented by seven in-depth interviews with executives in Australia and ASEAN.
Download report and watch video interview to learn more.
Risks and opportunities in a changing world
Read our Taxing digital services, U.S. tax reform: The global dimension, & Planning for life after NAFTA articles by clicking the thumbnails below.
Fintech in ASEAN: Unlock the Opportunity
A booming global industry, fintech brings new innovations to traditional financial services and in the process can help reach new population segments and enable the provision of new products and services to existing customers. The basic premise is that fintech promises to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of business operations and financial transactions among large established institutions and start-ups alike, a process often relying on an increase in online access and smartphone penetration.
Related content
The shifting landscape of global wealth: Future-proofing prosperity in a ti...
In some instances the impact of this shift will be shaped by local factors, such as demographic changes. In other instances this shift will reflect shared characteristics, as demonstrated by the greater popularity of overseas investing among younger high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) brought up in an era of globalisation. Whatever the drivers, the landscape of wealth is changing—from local to global, and from one focused on returns to one founded on personal values.
Despite rising economic concerns and a tradition of investor home bias in large parts of the world, the new landscape of wealth appears less interested in borders. According to a survey commissioned by RBC Wealth Management and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), younger HNWIs are substantially more enthusiastic about foreign investing. The U.S. is a particularly high-profile example of a country where a long-standing preference for investments in local markets appears set to be transformed.
Click the thumbnail below to download the global executive summary.
Read additional articles from The EIU with detail on the shifting landscape of global wealth in Asia, Canada, the U.S. and UK on RBC's website.
Fintech in ASEAN
To better understand the opportunities and challenges in developing a fintech business in seven ASEAN markets, The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted wide-ranging desk research supplemented by seven in-depth interviews with executives in Australia and ASEAN.
Download report and watch video interview to learn more.
Risks and opportunities in a changing world
Read our Taxing digital services, U.S. tax reform: The global dimension, & Planning for life after NAFTA articles by clicking the thumbnails below.