Evolution of treasury in EMEA

Is EMEA a coherent region, or merely a convenient shorthand? And how is best practice evolving for treasurers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa? Industry experts discuss the different challenges faced by treasurers in EMEA, as well as the goals that unite them.

Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) is a geographical grouping commonly used in business. But in practice, this geographical area includes a disparate mix of over 100 countries, thousands of languages and numerous regulatory systems. “EMEA is a convenient shorthand used in management reports, but from a treasury perspective it is definitely not one comparable region,” observes Sander van Tol, Partner at independent consultancy firm Zanders.

“A corporate treasurer of a listed multinational in Amsterdam, a sovereign-linked entity in Abu Dhabi and a regional treasury in Lagos are operating in three very different liquidity and risk universes: different currency regimes, different regulatory environments, and different starting points on the digitalisation and treasury maturity curve.

“What unites them is less the EMEA region, but more the core challenges of the function itself – the discipline of visibility, risk control and forward planning.”

Structural differences

Drilling down into the three components of EMEA, van Tol points out that treasurers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa face distinct challenges due to their structural differences.

Europe. In Europe, most treasuries are focusing on increasing efficiency by means of digitisation. “Economic growth compression is pushing treasurers to build stronger business cases for operating expense (OpEx) reduction – in other words, asking ‘how can we do more with less?’,” says van Tol. “The answer should be business process optimisation and technology.”
Middle East. In the Middle East, van Tol highlights accelerated growth and investment in the latest technology. “Treasury teams in the GCC are scaling fast and investing in greenfield treasury management system (TMS) implementations,” he says. Notable trends include increased interest in deploying AI in treasury processes, as well as an “active community looking into the application of stablecoins for payments and liquidity management, supported by a strong regulatory framework.”
Africa. Here, says van Tol, the main challenges include a developing banking infrastructure, currency convertibility and repatriation. “Multi-currency cash pooling of the kind that is routine in the eurozone is often not feasible, given fragmented banking infrastructure and regulatory divergence across more than 50 jurisdictions. Furthermore, most African corporate treasuries are working on the first steps in terms of digitalisation to seek enhanced deployment of their TMS.”

Shared thread

That said, van Tol acknowledges there is a “shared thread” beneath the different elements of EMEA. “Financial risk is becoming networked rather than siloed,” he observes. “Tariffs, export controls and monetary policy divergence now propagate through FX, liquidity and capital structure in ways that a single-exposure view cannot capture.”

As a result, enterprise liquidity risk management – which connects cash visibility, funding strategy, financial risk and capital allocation into one framework – has become a board-level conversation across all three sub-regions, “even though the trigger differs by market.”

Direction of travel

Looking at the region as a whole, Laura Franco Sarto, head of GPS Corporate Sales for Continental Europe at Bank of America, says that treasurers across EMEA are balancing liquidity, risk and operational resilience amid ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

She explains that priorities vary by market, “from regulatory change in Europe to growth initiatives in the Middle East and navigating diverse market infrastructures across Africa.” But alongside these differences, “the common challenge is maintaining visibility, reporting and control while responding quickly to changing conditions.”

Martijn Stoker, Global Head of GPS Liquidity, Global Payments Solutions at HSBC, adds that across EMEA, treasurers are balancing cost discipline with transformation. “In HSBC’s EMEA Treasury Pulse, the top priorities include ‘Firm-wide adoption of new technologies’ (57%) and ‘Operational cost reduction’ (55%), with cost reduction particularly acute for non-eurozone firms (64%),” he says.

While treasurers across the region share the same direction of travel, says Stoker, the speed of this journey depends on factors such as market structure and the currency/regulatory context.

Evolution of best practice

Turning to the evolution of best practice in the region, Tariq Farooq, head of Commercial Sales for GPS EMEA, Bank of America notes that treasury has become a more strategic function in recent years. Increasingly, treasury is playing a central role in helping organisations navigate volatility, optimise liquidity and support growth. “Best practice now centres on real-time cash visibility, automation and data-driven decision-making, enabling treasurers to respond quickly to changing market conditions while balancing risk, resilience and growth objectives,” he says.

“The most effective treasury teams are those that can combine operational excellence with strategic insight, ensuring capital is deployed efficiently while supporting the organisation’s long-term goals.”

In the current environment, treasurers in EMEA are looking for banking partners that combine global capabilities with trusted advice. “They are looking for solutions that improve visibility, simplify complexity and support treasury transformation, alongside technology that delivers practical outcomes.”

Harnessing technology

Where technology is concerned, HSBC’s Stoker reports that clients in EMEA are proactively engaging with new treasury technology. He notes there is clear momentum behind digitisation and initiatives to modernise core platforms such as TMSs and ERPs. “Tokenisation, such as HSBC’s TDS, is another development where treasurers are harnessing technology,” he says. “At a practical level, the use of tokens can support intraday liquidity management, settlement and collateral management across asset classes and markets.”

Nevertheless, he says execution of treasury technology is still uneven. “Many teams have some form of automation, but day-to-day delivery often relies on manual workarounds and fragmented data. As a result, automation, better system integration and more real-time visibility of cash and liquidity remain the focus areas.

“AI is also on the agenda – adoption is still emerging, but expectations are that it will increasingly automate routine finance and treasury activities over the next few years.”

Similar but different

Taking a step back, Bank of America’s Franco Sarto says that while the operating environment may differ across EMEA, treasurers are increasingly aligned on the outcomes they are trying to achieve – namely resilience, efficiency and growth.

“Priorities are often shaped more by an organisation’s strategy and footprint than by geography alone,” she concludes. “Ultimately the goal is to build a treasury function that is agile, scalable and positioned to support the wider business as it evolves.”

Case study

Kemi Bolarin

Head of Treasury – Europe

What do you see as the most significant challenges for treasurers in EMEA today?

I think the biggest challenge is that uncertainty is no longer an occasional disruption; it’s become the norm, part of the operating environment. Not that long ago, treasury teams could build plans around relatively stable assumptions. Today, we’re navigating geopolitical tensions, changing trade relationships, inflationary pressures, higher funding costs, cyber risk and an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.

Which treasury challenges keep you awake at night?

The issue that concerns me most is visibility and predictability of cash. Across parts of the market, delayed payments are increasingly an intentional working capital decision rather than an administrative issue. Businesses are understandably looking to preserve liquidity, but that can create greater uncertainty in forecasting and liquidity planning for everyone else.

The other area is resilience. As treasury becomes increasingly digital, we have enormous opportunities through automation, data analytics and AI. However, we also need to ensure we’re not introducing new risks as we modernise.

What are you looking for from bank partners in the current environment?

The relationship between corporates and banks has become much more strategic than transactional. Access to liquidity, execution quality and competitive pricing remain important, but they’re no longer enough on their own.

What I value most today is insight, connectivity and genuine partnership. I want bank partners who understand what is happening across global markets, payments, trade and regulation, and who can translate that into practical guidance.

How is best practice evolving for treasurers in the region?

The biggest shift I’m seeing is treasury continuing to be more forward-looking and predictive, while remaining firmly grounded in human judgement. Today’s focus is increasingly on understanding what might happen next. That requires stronger forecasting, more sophisticated scenario modelling and better visibility of liquidity and risk across the organisation.

I’m also seeing far greater collaboration across functions. Treasury cannot operate in isolation. The most effective treasury teams work closely with finance, FP&A, procurement, commercial teams, credit, collections and technology functions because the drivers of cash flow sit across the entire business, not within treasury alone.

Regional Focus