In his column this month (see page 13), the ACT’s CEO, Colin Tyler, wonders whether treasurers should be paranoid. “Is everyone out to get us?” he asks. And who can blame treasurers if they are feeling the strain? Not only do they, along with everyone else, have to contend with the worst economic climate that most of us can remember; the nature of their jobs means they are also sucked into the twin vortexes that are the never-ending crisis in the eurozone and the meltdown in the banking sector, which hurtles headlong from one catastrophe to the next. On top of this, there is the perpetual creep of regulation, which is an added administrative and financial burden on treasury, and slowing growth in emerging markets, particularly China, as economic paralysis strengthens its grip on the world.
But despite the dismal economic backdrop, the planet is still revolving, people still need to live and companies still need to make money. And treasurers, when they’re not spending their time contingency planning for all the various doomsday scenarios that will probably never happen, still need to do their day jobs. A primary focus for them is, as always, cash management. Hence we bring you our 16-page cash and liquidity management special, starting on page 31. We look at the problem of ‘trapped cash’, cash that is earned in foreign jurisdictions, but cannot be easily repatriated due to regulations and controls, on page 32. Beginning on page 38, we have a special report on SEPA, which is coming in February 2014. You know the old adage, “If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail”, so now is the time to make sure that your treasury has the right systems and processes in place to take advantage of SEPA if you have not already done so. While we’re on the subject of old adages, it was 18th-century US statesman Benjamin Franklin who coined the saying: “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” So are you aware of all the important international taxation considerations associated with cash management? If not, you can brush up by reading our article on page 44.
Even in difficult times such as these, perhaps especially then, good people will stand out and flourish. One such person is Sarah-Jane Chilver-Stainer, group treasurer of international pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. She tells us about her successful US bond issuance and her involvement in GSK’s well-received share buyback programme on page 26.
I hope you enjoy the issue.