Thursday 24th September, 2015

Corporate treasury has an increasing importance in strategy and the wider business, according to ‘Financing the Fragile Economic Recovery’, research by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and Deutsche Bank.

The report builds on a survey of 300 global corporate treasury and finance executives, including 100 treasurers, 100 CFOs and 100 heads of department.

Almost three quarters (73%) of CFOs surveyed agree that leadership teams increasingly consult corporate treasurers on strategic questions. The same proportion believes that the treasury function fully understands long-term strategic goals.

However, around two-thirds (67%) of corporate treasures voice concerns that their company’s board does not take sufficient interest in the corporate treasury function. A similar proportion does not think their treasury departments are well integrated into the wider business.

Almost three-quarters (73%) of treasurers believe their treasury department is struggling to communicate its strategic value to the wider business. A lack of resources is also an issue: more than half (59%) of treasurers do not think their company’s treasury department is equipped to deal effectively with its growing role in the company.

Martin Koehring, the editor of the report, said: "Our research confirms that the role of corporate treasurers is becoming more strategic. And encouragingly, CFOs see it the same way. Nonetheless, our survey also highlights that this growing role is still not being fully recognised across the business, and many respondents feel that the corporate treasury function is ill equipped to deal with its growing role within the business."