The fate of the eurowas uppermost in the minds of delegates at the International Cashand Treasury Management conference held by EuroFinance at the endof September. According to an interactive poll, 57% of the financeexecutives at the conference say their company is prepared for acountry exiting the euro, although only a third believe that therewill be fewer countries in the euro by this time next year.

Patricia Greenfield, head of treasury operations at AstraZeneca,said the pharmaceutical company has put in place a eurozone taskforce and taken measures including setting up contingency bankaccounts in legacy currencies in case the need arises.

Jörg Bermüller, head of cash and risk management atMerck KGaA, another pharmaceutical company, said his companylaunched a new IT project to ensure its systems could handle newcurrencies and the respective exchange rates if necessary.Bermüller said that while Merck is prepared for a breakupof the euro, he is optimistic that the common currency willsurvive.