Treasurers face a ‘regulatory cliff’ in 2013 as the Basel III rules on capital adequacy start to impose tighter conditions on banks, ACT members learned last month.
Speaking at an ACT breakfast meeting in London, Johann Kruger, IFRS and financial risk management consultant at Lloyds, said regulatory change was among the biggest issues facing companies today.
He pointed out that besides credit being curtailed, banks would increasingly compete with companies for institutional investment and regulation would hinder growth and innovation.
Also speaking at the event, David Peters, Grosvenor group treasurer, said that the priority for treasurers amid the regulatory revolution was “getting access to as many markets as you can and knowing what’s going on so you can plan ahead”.
He emphasised the importance of putting a treasury management system in place and working out a future funding strategy that relied on diversified sources.
Peters advised treasurers to go through their company’s funding needs for the next few years on a project-by-project basis according to geography and decide how each project would be funded.
“The old assumption of funding through the centre no longer applies,” emphasised event chair John Grout, the ACT’s policy and technical director.
Sally Percy is editor of The Treasurer