The Handbook of Global Corporate Treasury

Part One

The World of Corporate Treasury

THE TREASURY OF A CORPORATION is often called its lifeblood, and with good reason. Treasury is responsible for the money of the organisation and its flow, reaching funds where and when it is needed, in the right form.

The term treasury has been used for centuries, with the first noted use of the word from the term tresorie, which means “room for treasure.” Those treasures have since been replaced with money and assets that companies own and use to generate value for stakeholders—shareholders, customers, employees, and partners.

Money and assets exist in different forms, and move around, sometimes exceedingly quickly and sometimes very slowly. In an increasingly global and connected world, the Treasurer, who has direct responsibility for the Treasury, is faced with the numerous challenges of handling the funds, assets, liabilities, and cash flows of the firm across locations, each of which has different regulatory and market environments, optimising the use of these resources and ensuring availability to support the business.

Over time, with increasing complexity in business environments, the Treasurer’s role has increased, with chief financial officers (CFOs) also taking on additional responsibility for the function. With complexity, however, comes the need to simplify the support and financial structure to ensure that the firm’s functioning is smooth and the environment to encourage business growth is built.

This book aims to do precisely ...