On Wednesday 16 September 2015, the Association des Trésoriers d'Entreprise à Luxembourg (ATEL), welcomed over 200 professionals at its second annual event at the Sofitel Hotel in Kirchberg, together with PwC Luxembourg and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Various speakers were present at the conference to address the main themes related to corporate treasurers, the function and priorities of which is ever-evolving. The issues discussed reflected the technological, regulatory and econmic challenges faced by the profession, and consisted of such topics as working capital management; new eBAM (electronic Bank Account Management) type SWIFT messages; and delegation power management, optimising 'Supply Chain Finance'.

Two workshops were also dedicated to the EIB's development and launch of SIEF activities, the European fund for strategic investments of the Investment Plan for Europe, or 'Plan Juncker', which aims to boost the European economy and strengthen its global competitiveness by closing Europe's investment gap. In this contect, the EIB presented to ATEL members its aim to offer financing slutions to fill market gaps and strengthen risk-taking ability among investors.

For many companies and multinationals, centralising their treasury services presents a more effective option than having a department in each subsidiary, with such an approach increasing their debt capacity through an efficient allocation of liquidity. The centralisation strengthens the solvency of participating companies and helps improve investment conditions in a positive cash flow situation.

"Since 2008, the function of the treasury has been a focus of attention," commented Philippe Förster, Director of PwC Luxembourg. "Negative interest rates, the evolution of the banking landscape and market volatility are examples whih reinforce the central role to be played by the treasury at the heart of the business".

François Masquelier, President of ATEL, continued: "Domiciling in a unique structure in Luxembourg to centralise financial flows holds numerous advantages: a central position in Europe, recognised expertise, a multilingual situation and access to stock markets".

 

Photo by PwC Luxembourg (L-R: Gérard Cops, PwC; Philippe Förster, PwC; Vincent Le Bellae, PwC)