Regulators need to listen

Last month I flagged the work we are doing in response to the radical changes proposed to OTC trading. John Grout and Martin O’Donovan have been deeply engaged in the potential fall out from the OTC changes – this has involved close co-operation between EACT – Richard Raeburn has been very busy in his ‘retirement’ – and the AFP in the USA. A strong and unified voice has been speaking to the regulators – and the regulators must listen and get this right. The consequences for companies going about normal hedging activities if margining requirements are required are immense – indeed it will change capital structures at a time when we don’t need any more changes.

As I write this we are coming up to a key enrolment deadline for our qualifications – overall enrolment numbers look like they will exceed last year’s autumn enrolment numbers. In part this is due to the excellent reception the CertITM-PF has had from the public sector, particularly local authorities. This is a credit to the great co-operation between CIPFA and ACT. There is no doubt CertITM-PF offers a step change in treasury education for those in the public sector – we believe that there is still more we can do to get the word out that you don’t need to rely solely on “advisors.” Get treasury qualified – your organisation will benefit and so will your career and job satisfaction.

Our regional Group in Leeds and Bradford jointly hosted an evening event with the Bank of England and we were very pleased that Andy Haldane (Executive Director Financial Stability) made a presentation to a packed audience from ACT members and companies in the region. Andy’s speech was widely reported in the media and I am pleased that the issue of banks too big to fail and too big to rescue is back on the front pages of the newspapers. This issue must be addressed - the regulators must ensure that our banks can fail and/or can be regulated effectively.

There were many mid-tier companies attending the Leeds event that knew little of the ACT – we hope that they have taken away a better understanding of the ACT and will see the benefits we can offer mid-tier companies as well as the largest plc’s with dedicated treasury teams. On that note we have seen an increase in companies – often those without dedicated treasurers – seeking corporate membership of the ACT so that they can access our resources. Contrary to popular belief, we do encourage companies to join ACT where they don’t have ACT members within their ranks – many of those that do join commit to members of their teams embarking on the ACT education programme. Corporate membership gives companies access to our events, publications and services whilst the organisation builds up its expertise.

Surely those non–executive directors who are attending our first events (in the next few days) targeted specifically at NEDs will see the value of ACT for their companies – should your NEDs be attending?

By Stuart Siddall