Adapting and thriving
in a changing environment

Change is constant in cash management and trade finance, and the successful treasury manager is one who adapts.

That's the underlying message of this edition of TreasuryPulse. In "Embracing change," Michael Spiegel, Managing Director and Global Head of Trade Finance and Cash Management, Corporates, sets the stage by reviewing a number of developments that are requiring treasury managers to respond, ranging from "the continuing effort to make the most efficient use of liquidity" to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) to the internationalisation of the Chinese renminbi.

Also in this edition, Federico Focardi, Group Finance Director at Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A., highlights "SEPA as a catalyst for change." Focardi reports how his company — working with Deutsche Bank, its cash management provider — has leveraged its SEPA migration project to embark on a transformation project, including centralising payments through a highly efficient payments factory.

The focus on SEPA takes a turn as Dieter Stynen, Head of Cash Management Corporates, Western Europe, discusses "How the benefits of XML extend beyond SEPA." Corporates need to look beyond SEPA compliance and use the XML format to make treasury operations smoother and more efficient across their global operations, he contends.

Change in this space also includes new trade patterns and emerging markets. In "South-south trade is reshaping the global landscape," Daniel Schmand — EMEA Head of Trade Finance and Cash Management Corporates — describes growing emerging-market trade interconnectivity and analyses its potential impact on both trade and cash management practices. In another piece — "Deutsche Bank: eye on Africa" — three of our bankers point to emerging economic activity in Africa — long regarded as the "forgotten continent" — and explain how they optimise correspondent relationships there.

Finally, in his interview in Trade & Export Finance, Spiegel reaffirms some of the trends and changes noted elsewhere in this edition, and comments on the resurgence in trade finance, positive regulatory developments, and Deutsche Bank's development of a more integrated, end-to-end supply chain automation offering.