While keeping cool at the Intercontinental Hotel on Park Lane in London on 25th June, treasury talent from across EMEA and the Americas gathered for the hottest ticket in town, the 2026 Adam Smith Awards. On accepting the award for Top Treasury Team Overall, Anna Elphick, Global Head of Tax, Treasury and Insurance at Magnum, commented that it was fitting, as temperatures hit 35ºC outside the hotel walls, this award was taken by an ice cream company.
Now in its 19th year, the quality of nominations from some of the world’s most successful, innovative and fast-growing corporations, organisations and government entities showcased the prestige of the Adam Smith Awards and its role as a benchmark for treasury excellence.
This year saw a record-breaking 635 nominations from 42 countries. Judges evaluated each submission to select outstanding winners across 19 diverse categories of treasury achievement.
Many of this year’s winners have deployed artificial intelligence and emerging technologies alongside established best practices. From niche solutions to wide-ranging transformations, the winners of the Adam Smith Awards have raised the bar for achievement in treasury.
Celebrating not only the winners but also the highly commended treasury teams, banking partners and service providers, Treasury Today Group’s Sophie Jackson and Meg Coates presented the crystal awards.
“An Adam Smith Award is recognised throughout the globe as the ultimate industry benchmark for corporate treasury excellence,” said Coates. “The competition has never been stronger, and the challenges that our societies and companies are facing have never been greater.”
In addition to joking about the summer heatwave, Elphick dedicated Magnum’s award to the “entire treasury team” for their “exceptional performance over an 18-month period”. The overall Top Treasury Team award recognised Magnum’s journey from a division of Unilever to an independent company.
“We are the world’s biggest ice cream company, but we’re also the newest,” she said. Despite being a 100-year-old brand, Magnum started from zero to build its treasury function, strategy, capital structure, operations and policies, said Elphick.
“So recognition tonight is absolutely incredible,” she added.
One of the most moving speeches of the night was from Tony Masone, Vice President and Treasurer at Amazon, winner of Treasurer of the Year.
Outlining four values that drive his work, Masone laid out his foundation as a child of an immigrant family in the US who started school not speaking a word of English.
What that taught him, said Masone, was “when you start from zero, you learn very quickly that hard work is the only thing that closes the gap.”
The four values Masone aims to live every day include fortitude, passion, craft and grace.
According to Masone, the award “really belongs” to the treasury team at Amazon, “for showing up every day and pushing me to keep evolving and striving to be a better leader”.
The Adam Smith Awards offer an opportunity for networking and for corporate treasurers to receive their awards in person, in the company of their peers, colleagues and partners. According to Coates, “what really shone through is the sheer scale of teamwork, best practice and collaboration – leading to some truly impressive outcomes.”
Some of their achievements are included below, but these represent just a small selection of this year’s success stories. During our Adam Smith Awards season, we will share in-depth case studies on all our 2026 winners, published across Treasury Today’s channels in September.
Gedeon Richter Plc was awarded the Best Risk Management Solution. According to the judges, the solution redefines how corporate treasuries manage multidimensional risk in an environment where traditional hedging tools have proven insufficient.
AstraZeneca took home Best Cash Management Solution. The award recognised that the solution implemented machine learning models and technology-driven cash forecasting and liquidity intelligence.
Technip Energies was awarded Best Payments Solution, because the judges saw how the company moved from a very complex, fragmented, manual environment to a centralised payments gateway using ISO and a bank account validation tool.
ServiceNow was awarded for Harnessing the Power of Technology, by embracing the latest technology, setting technology standards by co-innovation with system providers.
Microsoft was recognised as the Best use of AI in Corporate Treasury for improvements which go far beyond Treasury – wiping out timely delays and realising “real-time treasury (information)”.
eBay was awarded Best Treasury Transformation Project, because it raised the bar for treasury teams operating in a regulated payments and multi-entity environment.
Strategic Treasurers Alliance was given the Judges’ Choice award, which quantified the climate impact of cash and short-term investments, showing real innovation and leadership.
We look forward to sharing the best practices and successes of the winners throughout the Adam Smith Awards season.
The Adam Smith Awards are globally recognised as the industry benchmark for best practice and innovation in corporate treasury, and this year was no exception. Thank you to everyone who nominated, and those who attended an event that brought our formidable community together once again.
