Editorial

The end of the madness?

As we reach the end of 2016 few would say that it has been a boring year. It may, in fact, go down as one of the most volatile years on record.

Most notably 2016 was the year the UK public voted to leave the European Union. The fallout of this has sent shockwaves around the world and significantly impacted the financial markets. Uncertainty around the UK and the European Union more broadly has become the order of the day and this looks set to continue in 2017 as Article 50 may or may not be triggered by the UK’s Conservative government. There will be challenges ahead, but for now, the prevailing advice for corporates is to ‘keep calm and carry on’.

Away from Europe, the US, whilst perhaps doing better economically, is going through its own crisis of identity. The battle between Clinton and Trump has been one of the most polarising and divisive presidential campaigns in recent times. Whether the aftershock impacts the US, its business environment and its place in the world more broadly remains to be seen.

For corporate treasury departments around the world, these and other issues have created a lot of headaches. But in a year that will probably be judged as volatile by history, there have been some bright spots. The wave of digitisation sweeping across the industry at present has gained momentum and there are promising signs that treasurers may be benefitting from some of these developments.

In this issue, we take an in-depth look at 2016 and the events that have shaped the year for corporate treasurers. We also review the negative (and positive) impacts that financial regulation is having on corporate treasury departments and speak to some industry experts about how to deal with this. In the last “what if” of this year, we speak to a number of corporates about what to do if and when a bank’s strategy no longer includes you.

Season’s greetings

Treasury Today would like to thank you again for your continued support throughout the year. Next year we will continue to deliver independent research, insight, and analysis as well as introducing some new features that are designed to highlight the latest trends impacting the profession.

2017 also marks the ten-year anniversary of the Adam Smith Awards, a tremendous milestone that you might want to celebrate with us. Why not start preparing your nomination now.

We wish all of our readers a most enjoyable festive period.