2020 provided challenges for treasurers across the Middle East and the speed of change surrounding operations was significant. As we move through 2021, the crisis has provided an opportunity to show the importance of the treasury to the wider organisation, as well as the importance of risk management and resilience to prepare for times of difficulty.
Maintaining skills, both strategic and technical – are essential to enhance the role of treasury, especially as automation accelerates across many treasuries.
Please take a look at the draft agenda below and continue to visit this page for future updates and announcements.
| 09:30 |
Welcome and opening remarks from the ACT Caroline Stockmann, Chief Executive, ACT |
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09:40 |
Opening keynote Economic and trade conversation Monica Malik, Chief Economist, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank |
| 10:30 |
Stage A: AML and KYC: enhanced controls AML and KYC requirements are becoming cumbersome – what are the red flags and compliance costs? And what are your responsibilities? What role are central banks, governments and other regulators playing? How can you best work with your banks to achieve these requirements in a cost-effective manner? And what is the future – is this a central registry model or something else? |
|
11:25 |
Treasury lab one: access to liquidity Access to liquidity has at times been challenging with increased pricing, especially dollar liquidity, due not just to creditworthiness but unusually due to limited competition. This session will consider how to improve your liquidity solutions by considering examples from corporates across the region. Nader R. Ragheb, VP & Group Treasurer, Orascom Construction |
| 12:10 |
Stage B: practical insights and experiences into API implementation and the increased efficiency and visibility of doing so Application programming interfaces (APIs) allow the sharing of data between software programmes, such as receiving account data from your banks directly into your ERP, providing increased efficiency and an easier real-time view of your balances and transactions. This session will look at the implementation challenges of APIs, the costs and timelines, and how this compares with the long-term and efficiency gains that APIs can provide, with treasurers, who have been through the process, providing experiences and giving practical insights for treasurers looking at APIs. Janko Hahn, Treasurer, Autoneum In association with ADCB |
| 12:55 | Networking and exhibition time |
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13:40 |
Treasury lab two: banking relationships in a post-COVID-19 world Experiences with banks have varied during the pandemic, with challenges resulting from sovereign downgrades, bank staff working from with higher levels of medical absences, and shifts to digital, but with longer-term relationships helping. How do you assess the performance of your banks and how can you optimise your banking relationships going forward, and in the context of your holding and parent companies? What value-add can local banks, compared with global banks, provide? And with the recent merger of Samba and NCB resulting in the Saudi National Bank, what does it show about the future consolidation of the banking sector in the region? Steven Buonvino, Treasury and Trade Solutions Sales Head for the Middle East & North Africa, Citi |
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14:35 |
Treasury lab three: how to build a cost-efficient treasury centred around automation Automation is changing the future of treasury, so what should the relationship between operating and parent companies be? Is an in-house bank a solution – what are the advantages and risks? And what are the alternatives? Can streamlining systems assist with maintaining high levels of controls in a decentralised model? And bringing this together, how do you transform your treasury with automation yet limit costs? Mona Lockett, Treasurer, Automotive, Al Futtaim In association with Refinitiv |
|
15:20 |
Treasury lab four: Exploring SWIFT through the eyes of a multi-banked corporate AML and KYC requirements are becoming cumbersome – what are the red flags and compliance costs? And what are your responsibilities? What role are central banks, governments and other regulators playing? How can you best work with your banks to achieve these requirements in a cost-effective manner? And what is the future – is this a central registry model or something else? Sabrina Fromager, gpi for Corporates Adoption Manager, SWIFT In association with Swift |
| 16:05 |
Stage C: changing priorities for global and regional treasurers Whether public or private, local/regional or multinational, or indeed the corporate culture, the company a treasurer operates in makes a difference to the role and resources of the treasury department. This discussion will consider the role of treasury in the region (and beyond) and how developments in technology and automation is changing this and affecting the key priorities for today’s treasurer. Girish Viswanathan, Group Treasurer, Al Tayer In association with Barclays |
| 16:50 | Close of day one |
| 09:30 |
Welcome and opening remarks from the ACT Caroline Stockmann, Chief Executive, ACT |
|
09:40
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Keynote address: empowering women in treasury What progress is being made for greater diversity across the Middle East in enhancing female empowerment and providing equal opportunities across the finance and treasury professions? Rola Abu Manneh, Chief Executive Officer, UAE, Standard Chartered |
| 10:30 |
Stage D: why should treasurers care about ESG and sustainability? As sustainability becomes integral in businesses through the region, why should treasurers get involved and what are the practical, workable tools available? How can the treasurer play a strategic role to assist the sustainability strategy of the business? Daniel Tromans, Group Treasurer, Etihad Airways |
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11:25 |
Treasury lab five: optimising your treasury management system The pandemic has either led or accelerated transformation projects for many treasury teams. This session will provide an in-depth perspective on the steps and challenges when a new system is deployed end-to-end to help you get the most from your investment. Anis Rahal, Director of Strategy and Market Development for Treasury, Bottomline TreasuryXpress In association with Bottomline TreasuryXpress |
| 12:10 |
Stage E: the macroeconomic picture and outlook for credit ratings – when to What is the forecast for key macroeconomic indicators including interest and currency rates and inflation? What is the outlook for sovereign debt ratings? How can corporates protect and enhance their ratings as their businesses and the global economy emerge from the challenges of 2020? And bringing each of these together, when should corporates plan to issue debt? Jan Friederich, Head of Middle East and Africa Sovereign Ratings, Fitch Ratings |
| 12:55 | Networking and exhibition time |
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13:40 |
Treasury lab 6: going paperless – practical steps to trade digitisation Duncan Lodge, Global Head of Traditional Trade, EMEA Head of Trade & SCF Product, Bank of America In association with Bank of America |
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14:25 |
Treasury lab seven: the ambition for real-time payments From a time of cash and cheques, the payments space is moving digital. Join this session to hear a story of transformation from manual to digital payments, with the ultimate goal of real-time payments. Barry O'Sullivan, Strategic Payments Director, Kyriba In association with Kyriba |
|
15:10 |
Treasury lab eight: spotlight on Qatar As relations between Qatar and the other GCC countries begin to thaw, what has the effect of the blockade been? And what’s the outlook for Qatar as the world looks towards it for the football world cup next year? James Mason, Senior Economist, QNB |
| 16:00 |
Adapting to the change in demographics The skills and mindset of millennials (and younger) is different – more technologically adept and more focused on purpose. How do you embrace the mix of generations within organisations, and manage talent effectively for the success of the business; and coupled with the greater IT focus in treasury, how will this lead to the new treasury team of the future? Join this session that will address the changing generation followed by a discussion on how this relates to finance and treasury. Muhsin Al Rustom, Chief Financial Officer, ASYAD |
| 16:50 |
Closing remarks Caroline Stockmann, Chief Executive, ACT |
A selection of pre-recorded content for you to watch as soon as the platform opens.
On-demand treasury 101 series |
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Understand key priorities, including the role of SMEs and supporting a diverse workforce
Gain skills to assist you with the effective development of you and your treasury department
The programme is being developed in consultation with our regional Advisory Panel. The ACT Treasury Network Middle East Advisory Panel was developed to provide on the ground intelligence and guidance and ensure the ACT is supporting the local needs of the treasury and finance community. The panel consists of treasury professionals from some of the largest and most influential organisations across the GCC and helps drive the high-quality and impartial content the ACT Middle East Treasury Summit is known for in the region. Stay tuned for exciting updates around this year's agenda
ACT Middle East Treasury Summit
28-29 September 2021
A virtual event
Registration is FREE for corporate treasurers, with reduced rates for other attendees.
Want to learn more about the ACT qualifications and training courses? Join us on Wednesday 29 September at 1pm (GST) for an informal meeting with our Learning team, to hear what our programmes offer, how they can help you achieve your goals and for an opportunity to ask questions you have.
