The proverbial ink was barely dry on Treasury & Risk's April cover story when Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake and killer tsunami. At press time, the country still faced a nuclear crisis, while reports multiplied of extensive disruption to multinationals' supply chains.

Black swans were swimming in unison–on top of continuing unrest in the Mideast, roiled by an international attack on Libya's lunatic leader, against a backdrop of enduring U.S. regulatory uncertainty. Not surprisingly, the last of the concerns on T&R's short list of top risks, cyber threats, surfaced as well at the end of March, when EMC revealed that its RSA Security Division's anti-hacking technology had been hacked. Senior contributing editor Russ Banham has more to say on the top five risks for the year, just three months old.

Meanwhile, much needs to be accomplished before the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) actually works to standardize cross-border payments and cut costs as originally envisioned, writes contributing editor Hilary Johnson.