The Association of Corporate Treasurers
An introduction to:The Hungarian Treasury Club
James Lockyer, Director of Education and International DevelopmentNovember 2011
What is corporate treasury?
• It is the interface between the company and financial markets• It deals with three critical questions in finance:
– How do we decide what to invest in?
– How do we raise the money to make those investments?
– How do we control risk in the organisation?
Which can be summed up as
– What is our financial strategy and policy?
• The finance director is responsible for advising the board– The treasurer is responsible for advising the FD
– But often briefs the board directly
• And it has major operational responsibilities too.
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Role and profile of treasurers
Role• Principal tasks broadly defined
under five core treasury elements:
− Capital markets and funding
− Cash and liquidity management
− Corporate financial management
− Risk management
− Treasury operations and controls
Profile“One day I'm a banker, the next I'm
an accountant and then I'm a trader. Still I’m a
corporate treasurer.”
• The financial crisis has raised profile of treasurers
• UK Government report flagged training, transparency and challenge as constituting good treasury practice.
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ACT in 2011
• Members and students in 70 countries– 4,200+ members – 20% outside the UK– 2,400+ students – 40% outside the UK• c70% of members and students already have a finance
qualification (eg ACA, CIMA, ACCA)• Highly respected within the UK– 87% of FTSE 100 have >8 ACT members– 53% of FTSE 350 have >1 ACT member• Now supporting – Career treasurers, and – Career finance professionals – CFOs, financial controllers,
internal auditors etc.422/04/23
• Tuition and/or events in Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, UAE and UK
• Active member of International and European treasury groupings (IGTA and EACT)
• Providing education support to 8 national treasury associations around the world
• Middle East network launched in 2008 www.actmiddleeast.org
ACT – international presence
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• Committed to developing ACT’s networks and support for members and students overseas, in particular– Europe
– Hong Kong
– India
– Middle East
– North America
– Singapore
– South Africa
• In raising the profile of ACT overseas we can increase recognition of professional treasury qualifications and in turn the profession.
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ACT – promoting international professional treasury standards
• Treasury Associations:
• EACT, IGTA & Members (CAT (Czech), SAF (Slovakia), AITI (Italy), IACCT (Hong Kong), ACTSA (South Africa), IACT (Ireland), ACTS (Singapore)
• Accountancy Bodies:
• ICAEW, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA, HKICPA, ICPAS, SAICA, IFAC
• Regulators / Government:
• FRC, FSA, Bank of England, Treasury, European Commission, IASB (and EFRAG), UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC)
• Other professional bodies:
• ICSA, IIA, IRM
Who do we work with?
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Why treasury qualified?
You wouldn’t trust your key legal decisions to someone who isn’t a qualified lawyer, so – whatever the size of your organisation – why entrust your treasury, risk and corporate finance to someone who isn’t a qualified treasury professional?
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ACT qualifications
AMCT DiplomaModular syllabus comprising 3 stages
MCT Advanced Diploma
Select 2 electives to complete AMCT or take as individual certificatesAMCT Stage 3
Compulsory for AMCT or can be taken as individual certificates
AMCT Stage 2
Certificate in International Treasury Management – CertITM
Certificate in International Treasury Management Public Finance –
CertITM-PF
Advanced treasury knowledge and strategic decision making – proven ability and expertise
Full Member of the ACT
Technical treasury competenceacknowledged standard
Associate Member of the ACT
Specialist skills
ACT Faculty Member
Broad practical understanding of treasury
ACT Faculty Member
Standard route to ACT qualifications and membershipFast-track route and exemptions
Shorter CertCFF paper and exam for AMCT Fast-Track eligible accountants
AMCT entry point for qualified accountants from IFAC member bodies and those with other relevant qualifications
Direct entry with relevant finance qualification or senior experience
Level of ability
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AMCT Stage 1
CertICMCash
Management
CertRMRisk
Management
CertCFFCorporate Finance
& Funding
CertFMMFinancial Maths
& Modelling
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Certificate in Financial Fundamentals for Business – CertFin
Can be taken as part of AMCT or as individual certificate
Fundamentals of financial and management accounting, economics, corporate tax and law for business
ACT Faculty Member
Qualified accountants are exempt from AMCT stage 1
Exemptions available with other relevant qualifications
The voice of corporate treasury
Representing the corporate user of financial services to regulators and standard setters and in developing market practices. A few recent examples
OTC derivative regulation in Europe - Successfully argued for carve out for non financial companies
European Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) - Political momentum is increasing for a new FTT in Europe
Supply Chain Finance (SCF) - Chaired working group set up by the Bank of England.
Market Abuse Directive - Lobbying for EU to adopt same high standards
Credit rating methodologies - Responded to consultations from rating agencies on changes to methodologies for rating banks and for rating Money market Funds
Independent Commission on Banking (UK)
• Submitted evidence to the Vickers review
For more go to http://www.treasurers.org/technical
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• The Treasurer magazine and Middle East Treasurer• Readership >20,000, 49% outside the UK
• Editorial leadership – by treasurers, for treasurers
• Specialist supplements/reference books
• Monthly e-newsletter
• Handbooks• International Handbook – 40% distributed outside UK
• Asia Handbook – regional specific content • Flagship Events
• ACT Annual Conference• ACT Middle East Annual Conference• talkingtreasury – the international thought-leadership series• Annual Dinner, London
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ACT – promoting international treasury standards