talkingtreasury in Amsterdam and discussion of Rome I

At the beginning of May Graham Bond, Greg Croydon, Lucy Fuller and Stephen Pugh will take their places for a three year term on the ACT’s Council, following their success in the elections just held. Greg and Lucy have just completed a three year term. We lose from Council Stephen Crompton and Emma Lubbock, both of whom have contributed enormously to the ACT; we are grateful for their support and guidance over the years.

The ACT held its second talkingtreasury event in Amsterdam in January and we are delighted that the report from the conference is now available. The event was truly pan-European, with both the attendees and panellists representing many leading companies across Europe. We hope you find the report interesting; it has focused on the key themes of pensions management, governance and accountability and best practice in risk. Our next talkingtreasury event is taking place in Düsseldorf in early July.

Our Spring Paper takes place on 24 April and we are delighted that John Tiner of the FSA will be speaking on the UK and US regulatory divide and its impacts on UK business. He will address how the principles and accountability approach to corporate reporting in the UK can survive in the face of US rules and valuation priorities and what the future holds for a principles-based approach to financial services regulation in the UK. Demand to attend the Spring Paper is always high and I recommend early registration to ensure your place.

The ACT has been actively involved in the debate regarding the draft EU Regulation, “Rome I”. Further information on our response is available in this month's newsletter but if you have any comments please contact the ACT’s Policy and Technical Director, John Grout directly. The next few weeks will be critical and we urge as many of you as possible to respond.

We have been delighted with the response to our annual conference, taking place this year at the EICC in Edinburgh on 2-4 May. From a delegate perspective we have over 250 corporate attendees, mainly from FTSE 100 and 250 companies, already signed up to attend, and from the exhibitor perspective I can confirm that the exhibition will be bigger and better than last year! The gathering anticipation surrounding this event is exciting to watch and I am certain that all who are there will have an enjoyable as well as professionally rewarding time. We are nearing capacity at the venue so if you have not signed up to attend yet I encourage you to do so now.

Finally, I must just congratulate all who were successful in the ACT’s recent examinations. I was delighted to see so many celebrating at our recent Conferment Ceremony. Our qualifications remain the standard setters in treasury, corporate finance and risk management and I have no doubt that our recently passed candidates will benefit from the professional development and support provided through completing our qualifications.