However, every year we receive nominations which do not fit one of the predefined categories and demonstrate something out of the ordinary and unique in its implementation. This is why we created our discretionary Judges’ Choice to recognise these solutions worthy of particular attention.
In 2012, in addition to traditional bank financing, Hotel Chocolat was keen to explore less conventional financing opportunities. The company came up with the idea to borrow money from its customers and pay their returns in chocolate – innovation worthy of our very first Judges’ Choice recognition.
Etihad Airways was Judges’ Choice in 2014, our judges felt that because of the most innovative nature, in terms of securing take-off and landing slots at London Heathrow as the underlying security to the transaction, it was a most deserving winner of the Judges’ Choice that year.
Two years later, our judges recognised Toyota Financial Services (TFS). The continual quest for access to the most effective funding sources, combined with a strong company diversity programme, resulted in a unique and innovative project from TFS. Utilising TFS’s Diversity and Inclusion Bond Platform with a unique structure, pairing a two-year fixed and floating rate bond with a five-year tranche to help drive broader demand, made it a most deserving winner of our 2016 Judges’ Choice.
More recently, our judges recognised the work of Roche. Since GPI was introduced by Swift some years ago, Roche was attaching the unique end-to-end tracking reference (UETR) to its international cross-border payments. Despite receiving tens of thousands of feedback messages, a structured way to review this data never happened. Roche addressed that with some outstanding results.
Last year, the accolade went to The World Bank which is at the forefront of combatting global poverty and inequality, providing finance to address urgent emergencies and critical, long-term development needs. But behind the 80-year-old organisation’s flagship work, as its offices and operations grew, decentralised payment processes were becoming more complex. In 2023 alone, teams in the institution’s Treasury and Controller areas supported US$8trn in cash transactions, and managed bank accounts in 146 currencies involving nearly 400 correspondent banking relationships, including 185 central banks. Our judges wanted to recognise the sheer scale and complexity of the work undertaken by The World Bank.
Our Judges’ Choice has also been implemented in our Adam Smith Awards Asia programme and companies such as Mondelez, Flex, Larsen & Toubro, Amway India and Maersk have all been recognised over the past decade.
Perhaps our Asia Awards Judges’ Choice back in 2018 best illustrates the uniqueness of this discretionary category – Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy. This was an extensive solution comprising many processes and technologies and was the first of its kind in Inner Mongolia which is why it was that year’s Judges’ Choice.
More recently, in 2022, Olam Group Limited was recognised after it announced a major corporate reorganisation to split its business into three independent operating groups. The reorganisation required the company to restack its entire debt portfolio (approximately US$20bn of facilities) into the three new operating groups spanning public and private bonds, committed revolving credit facilities (RCFs)/term loans, bilateral working capital lines and FX facilities, while continuing to meet the day-to-day requirements of the business. This was a major project and our judges felt it worthy of special recognition.
With a history of ground-breaking innovation displayed in this award category, could you be the next worthy winner of the Judges’ Choice accolade? Submit an entry in this year’s programme and it may be worthy of joining our alumni of industry trailblazers in this special category.
Further information can be found at https://treasurytoday.com/adam-smith-awards/
