EuroFinance’s top articles of 2020
Take a look at the top ten most-read EuroFinance news articles from 2020, ranked by views from our global corporate treasury community.
1) Google pairs with SAP to reshape treasury
It may be one of the world’s most advanced tech companies, with a $1.1 trillion market cap, but when it came to treasury, Google’s technology wasn’t up to scratch. Google’s parent company Alphabet made the decision to junk its bespoke TMS and go with SAP instead. Published in January 2020, this was the most read article last year.
2) Covid-19 puts airline hedge strategies under new focus
Airline fuel hedging got a pandemic-related twist last year. When travel lockdowns decimated flight schedules at the same time as oil prices plunged, the effect was to turn IFRS-compliant hedges of forecasted fuel purchases into loss-making derivatives bets. Confirming EuroFinance’s April predictions with $4.66 billion of losses by November, European airlines may now abandon fuel hedging completely.
3) Managing treasury through the Covid-19 crisis
When the world experienced the first wave of the Covid-19 crisis early last year, EuroFinance reported from the treasury front line, as treasurers recounted the measures taken to shore up liquidity, manage real-time forecasts and maintain workflows amid a pandemic.
4) How Covid-19 infected the corporate bond market
Before the pandemic struck, companies were enjoying record low funding costs, while issuing eye-watering amounts of corporate debt to help fund share buybacks. Then the pandemic ramped up liquidity pressures and increased borrowing costs – until emergency central bank action helped reopen the bond issuance floodgates again.
5) Supporting suppliers through the Covid-19 pandemic
Global supply chains experienced unprecedented disruption during the Covid pandemic prompting concerns that smaller suppliers could collapse due to shortages of working capital. Supply chain finance provided an essential lifeline during 2020. Based on our last pre-pandemic live event in Madrid, February 2020.
6) A sting in the tail
The pandemic sparked rapid declines in emerging market currencies versus the dollar last year. Treasurers that had spurned FX hedging of illiquid currencies suffered a tail risk surprise, prompting a hedging strategy rethink.
7) Citi and BofA surge ahead in transaction banking
The financial disclosures of global transaction banks provide insights into the collective actions of treasurers via data such as corporate deposits and loan volumes. In 2020, as the pandemic ratcheted up liquidity pressures, these disclosures became essential reading.
8) Expanding treasury’s role
Enabled by new technology such as APIs or RPA, the treasurer’s role was already growing before Covid-19. But the pandemic has accelerated the treasurer-as-strategist trend, giving them a seat at the table in multiple functions at a company.
9) Honeywell’s AI-free cash forecasting robots
For treasurers cautious about embracing new technology, robotic process automation has won many over. This popular case study shows how RPA has been a quick win for many who have implemented it.
10) The Dangers of Carry for Corporate Treasurers
Central bank action may have been a lifeline in 2020, but that hasn’t stopped warnings about all that excess liquidity, particularly when it comes to corporate treasurers searching for yield on cash and bond holdings. A book review by a popular treasury speaker at EuroFinance conferences.