June is the month which gets my vote for best month of the year – summer should be on its way and there is a host of important things to be getting on with: Test matches, a one-day triangular series, England vs. Greece, Royal Ascot, the Derby, Wimbledon, the Lions Tour kicks off, the Tiger Woods Masters comes to its logical conclusion... the list is endless. There is the downside of the final throes of general election campaigning, but you can’t have everything.
So June must be the time to put your feet up, relax and enjoy the events, either live, if you are influential enough to be entertained under the guise of ‘corporate hospitality’, or on the television?
“How can you do that?”, I hear you cry. Surely the answer lies in our Spotlight this month – Outsourcing. Give the hard work to somebody else and let them get on with it.
Of course, the reality is very different. Outsourcing all or part of your treasury function is hard work – you have to be sure that the procedures and systems are in place and are being followed to ensure the job is being done properly. The only break might come if your kindly service provider does invite you to one of the events for a day. The Spotlight guides through the advantages and some of the disadvantages. For those of you whose functions are going to be outsourced, I recommend you read our Spotlight on Careers in the July/August issue.
Islamic banking, an area where there is much misunderstanding, is explained in our opening article on the Middle East. We also look at how many Gulf States are opening up their markets, particularly in the case of Dubai, which has set itself up as an e-commerce centre.
Finally, yet another plea. We are planning for our Deals of the Year feature in December. It is still early days, but if a deal has been done which you find particularly interesting, please let us know. And remember, biggest is not necessarily best!
MIKE HENIGAN