Data Dilemmas

Following the recent row-back by certain US corporates on their DEI programmes, we explore the possible impact of curtailments through the eyes of those who have worked to establish them, and ask if it’s time for a rethink?

Why (and how) Treasurers Must Conquer their Digital Mountains Businesses are repeatedly told that data is the new gold/oil in terms of value to its owners. Yet sources of information can often be found scattered around the organisation as if it had little or no worth at all. In this exploration of data, we will seek to provide treasurers with a solid starting point for bringing structure to relative chaos.    

Collaboration between fintechs and banks, an increasing trend in recent years, is also necessary to deliver useful solutions to treasurers, not just e-commerce merchants.

Explorations of AI in treasury management yield many questions for the cautious and adventurous treasurer alike. Barclays’ Divya Kesavan, Head of Corporate Data Science & Insights, Global Transaction Banking, and Ope Olomo, Innovation Director, European Transaction Banking, present a balanced view of AI’s role in treasury and beyond.

As elections reshaped the global economy in 2024, corporate treasurers are finding themselves having to navigate shifting trade policies, currency volatility, regulatory changes, and technological disruption. Agility, resilience, and strategic foresight will be the key to success in 2025 and beyond.

Now is the time for treasurers to future-proof their organisations’ methods of instruction to their banks and embrace digital channels of communication. Here, in the second in a series of TMI guest columns written by leading experts from ING Transaction Services, Anthony van Vliet, Global Head of Trade Finance and Working Capital Solutions, examines why it is time to swap the ageing inbox for a cutting-edge platform.

Cybercrime and fraud are the subjects of perennial concern for banks and corporates. And as the world continues to digitalise rapidly, opening up new avenues of attack for increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals, their worries are only intensifying.

What is keeping treasurers up at night right now? It’s a question that might once have had a straightforward answer – interest rates, currency swings, or cash flow visibility. But as geopolitical uncertainty collides with economic recalibration, trade realignment, and digital disruption, there’s no single thread to pull.

The fundamental goal of a private equity (PE) house – an investment firm that specialises in acquiring, building, and disposing of businesses – is to use its (often institutional) investors’ funds to buy companies it considers to be of ‘improvable value’. It will then set out a broad strategy to achieve that value, with the typical aim of holding its investment for around three to five years.

Automation offers treasurers a chance to make processes more efficient, save time and money, and enhance controls around cash management. For those just embarking on such a journey, understanding where to start and defining the goals is essential for a successful outcome.