As the European debt crisis casts a shadow over global economicgrowth and the outlook for the euro, companies continue to tweaktheir short-term investments. According to Treasury &Risk's 2012 Cash Management Survey, which was conducted priorto the Securities and Exchange Commission's cancellation of itsvote on money-market fund regulatory changes in late August, 29% ofrespondents say they've put in place a more restrictive investmentpolicy over the last year, while 22% have tightened enforcement oftheir investment policy.

Asked specifically about how they will respond to the scheduledexpiration of unlimited FDIC coverage on non-interest bearingaccounts at the end of this year, a majority (53%) of companies saythey don't expect to move company funds out of checking accountswhen that coverage goes away.

Increases in bank prices were in line with what financeexecutives reported last year, with 38% saying they are beingcharged more for cash management services, vs. the 41% who citedprice increases in the 2011 survey.

A decline in service was the biggest issue companies are havingwith their cash management banks, cited by 29% of respondents thisyear, overtaking last year's top issue of linking treasury tobroader financial initiatives, such as A/P, A/R and EIPP, for whichbanks offer solutions.

As the countdown begins to the February 2014 deadline forimplementing the SingleEuro Payments Area (SEPA), 16% of companies with operations inthe European Union say they've adopted SEPA credit transfers, while12% have adopted SEPA direct debits.

And in a nod to connectivity, more companies are employingSWIFT, with 29% saying they use SWIFT or plan to connect to SWIFTin the next year, up from 18% in 2011.

Moreover, 37% say they intend to use SWIFT for electronic bankaccount management when their bank can receive those messages, upfrom 28% in 2011.

Almost 200 finance executives responded to the survey, which wasconducted between July 11 and July 23.

See the full results of the 2012 Cash Management Surveyhere.