Trésorier/Treasurer magazine - N°90 - July/Aug/Sep 2015 - (Page 5)

EDITORIAL requiring a number of business models to be reviewed rapidly. It goes without saying that this evolution is far from over, and that flexibility and the ability to adapt will become ever more crucial for young treasurers. The "treasurer" as a species still has a lot more evolving to do, particularly as a result of technology and the increased productivity that it generates. Nevertheless, this looks to be a good time to take a break and return to "a certain degree of normality". The next few months may be quieter and calmer. The danger lies in thinking that we have come to a stop, when in fact we are only taking a break after so many changes and demands. Taking a break, without even thinking of dozing off, and keeping up our guard - these will be the challenges that we must face. After a manic high we are heading for depression. We have to adapt to that as well, and shorten our sails without worrying about it. The danger of this type of break is more psychological than anything else. Now that treasurers have weathered the storm of regulatory requirements and demands of all types, they need to take a break and re-adapt to a more reasonable pace. The treasurer's job will keep on evolving, but hopefully at a more reasonable rate (at last). We need to take advantage of this temporary lull to strengthen the internal controls and processes that we have put in place. We will once again be able look at centralising transactions and redefining treasury strategy. Treasurers, like overtrained sportsmen after a succession of ordeals, need to ease off, without dozing off, to face up to the coming challenges and move forward as the job metamorphoses. The productivity demanded, and to be demanded, means that they will have to continue to decide and plan where they want to take the function in the coming years. It is essential that treasurers remain proactive and, whenever time permits, prepare a true "road book" to decide on where they want to go. As Seneca said, there are no fair winds for people who do not know where they are going. François Masquelier, Chairman of ATEL LE MAGAZINE DU TRESORIER / TREASURER MAGAZINE - N°90 - JULY If you have been hurtling along flat out for many miles, you sometimes have the feeling, when you drop back down to a more normal speed nearer the speed limit, that you are no longer moving at all. That's just a feeling, you tell me. That's true, but corporate treasurers have been racing along at 120 miles an hour for years, and especially over the last few months, for a variety of reasons. We have a feeling that perhaps our speed is little by little dropping down to something more "normal" and that the pressure is gradually lifting. Is it really happening, or is it just a feeling? If the feeling of there being a slowdown in the breakneck pace imposed on treasurers in recent years turns out to be real, to what should we attribute it? We think that several factors could be put forward. Firstly, through being put under heavy pressure and having a broader remit and workload, corporate treasurers are adapting to their environment in the same way as the chameleon, the cuttlefish, the desert nightjar, or the gecko. If Charles Darwin were talking about treasurers, he would have said that the origin of the current species of the modern treasurer is the result of a rapid and long evolution in the environment in which they operate. He would say that this has forced them to adapt the way they work, their methods, their tools and their expertise to the plethora of changes that they have had to face. Both changes and speed have hit them at the same time, along with the limitations on the resources available to treasurers. Against this backdrop, treasurers have had to metamorphose slowly and evolve to fulfil their function. Although the crisis itself may never be far from our minds, it now seems to be behind us. The new regulations are here or soon will be, but the future impact will essentially be indirect. Tax is becoming very important for treasurers. Accounting standards keep on swamping us with new requirements. Government finances are still in a parlous state. And the world still keeps on evolving at a hectic pace, / AUG / SEP 2015 Take a break and slacken the pace - it's high time ! 5

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Trésorier/Treasurer magazine - N°90 - July/Aug/Sep 2015

Cover
Table of contents
EDITORIAL
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS Luxembourg Tax News
INTERVIEW DataLog Finance
FOCUS
What do financial leaders around the world earn?
BIG DATA in treasury
Credit rating agencies in the line of fire?
FORUM
Hedge accounting: New standard, new challenges
Cyber Risk: Can Insurance be an Answer?
When FX Volatility hits your Corporate Earnings - How
Best to Manage your Currency Risk
Repo cash management - how it works in practice
20 ans de AXA IM, l’histoire continue
CORPORATE FINANCE
Time for more sophisticated corporate investment strategies
VAT electronic audit file: not too late to act, but no more time to lose
Focus sur l’actionnariat salarié
Struggling with cash forecasting? You are not alone
Coupling Delegation of Authority (DOA) with Bank Account Maagement (BAM)
15 MINUTES AVEC INTL FCStone
THE RISK OBSERVATORY
NEWS
LIFE BEYOND NUMBERS

Trésorier/Treasurer magazine - N°90 - July/Aug/Sep 2015