I attended a full day Corporate Treasury event today. It was their annual Treasury Forum. As a member, I wanted to get an insight of the latest Treasury happenings.
There were 4 themes for the day and the first one was on regulations. It seems that the amount of new regulations that banks have to face nowadays as a consequence of the 2008 GFC has made it very difficult for companies to obtain funding liquidity while the cost of doing business rises, even as interest rates hit rock bottom. In particular, the implementation of Basel 3 in the coming years will cause banks to restrict market making and par down drastically on risk taking. No one knows for certain how the banks would evolve from here.
Next, a panel discussed about the current market situation, where NIRP (Negative Interest Rate Policy) had wrecked havoc on all asset classes. We only know for certain that there will be more uncertainty ahead. Volatility seems to be higher as the markets get even more tensed but yet the VIX volatility index remains low…
The next topic was a perennial favourite. Is Fintech a revolution or evolution? Generally, everyone agreed that it is going to drastically change the way we are doing business with banks as all old and inefficient processes are eradicated. Instant transfer of funds using BlockChain is an example of the possibilities ahead.
Finally, there was the sharing of a survey done on the current landscape of corporate treasuries. This session provided all participants with an update on what the majority are doing, in areas like compliance and process enhancements.
Overall, it was an informative day where treasurers could network with like-minded people in the same industry and to obtain some insights into the current market situation.
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