Corporates steer Journeys to Treasury 2017: spotlight on data analytics, compliance and cybersecurity

BNP Paribas, the European Association of Corporate Treasurers (EACT), PwC and SAP have launched the second edition of ‘Journeys to Treasury’ (JTT), a collection of hands-on conversations about treasury today and tomorrow made with and for treasurers.

The second edition of Journeys to Treasury aims to identify the truly transformative and potentially disruptive changes in the world of treasury. It builds upon a series of surveys, interviews, panel discussions and interactive sessions which took place throughout 2017 to identify the most pressing topics in the world of corporate treasury. The 2017 edition of the report presents pertinent corporate case studies that illustrate how treasurers are addressing these topics.

The three key themes of JTT 2017 are data analytics, compliance & regulation, and cybersecurity. In line with the philosophy of the report, these topics have been developed with the joint perspectives of the bank, the industry association, the consultant and the software vendor.

On data analytics, the report finds that since treasury-related data is already centrally organised, data analytics can be used by treasurers for smarter decision-making. JTT 2017 also demonstrates the use of artificial intelligence as a performance booster, and shows how a global leader in the flavours industry used robotics and AI to its advantage.

In the second section, JTT examines why compliance and regulation continue to dominate the treasurer’s agenda with a roadmap that appears to be endless. It addresses the challenges that treasurers face in assessing the impact of constantly changing rules, to which recent geopolitical changes have added their own layer of complexity. The case study in this section demonstrates how treasurers can benefit by working hand-in-hand with tax experts and by focussing on transparency.

Finally, in the third section, the report puts cybersecurity and fraud under the microscope. In an increasingly digital world with fraudsters becoming more agile every day, treasurers have no choice but to be proactive. Yet even the best-designed cybersecurity policy offers no guarantees of total protection of corporate data. The report analyses how, after being a victim of social engineering fraud, a leading agro-industrial group both adapted its internal culture and updated its agreements with its financial partners.

The first edition of Journeys to Treasury made a lasting impression on the corporate treasury community, with as many as 1,387 downloads across the world and more than 24,000 visits to the report’s website within the first three months of its launch.

Journeys to Treasury 2017 has been launched at EuroFinance Barcelona and is available for download at www.journeystotreasury.com.