In today's dynamic global economy, treasurers are increasingly focused on financial risk.  A Citi Treasury Diagnostic survey revealed that 83% of respondents have put a treasury policy in place to cover liquidity risk and 79% have a policy to cover counterparty and credit risk.  When asked how often they assess their liquidity and funding risk, 70% of those surveyed indicated that they review risk at least quarterly.  It is considered best practice to have a comprehensive policy in place that is reviewed on a regular basis, putting the company in a strong position to deal with the implications of regulatory headwinds.

Over the past few years, regulators and governments throughout the world have been introducing new regulations with the goal of shoring up the global financial system.  Regulations, such as Basel III, FATCA and SEPA, are changing the way banks do business, and in so doing, are impacting multinationals that do business with them. 

Adding to the challenge, national regulators are overlaying their own sets of rules and requirements on top of global regulations with the goal of further protecting the local financial systems.  So, beyond these global standards, banks now have to navigate different applications of these rules in different jurisdictions.  The sheer volume of regulations and the complexity of the environment can be quite daunting.  Treasurers are faced with the challenge of understanding the impact of these bank regulations on their cash management and risk strategies.