Volatility in the foreign exchange markets has become a greater concern for finance professionals over the past year, according to the annual risk survey released by the Association for Financial Professionals.

Thirty percent of the 335 finance professionals whom the AFP surveyed listed currency risk as one of their top five concerns, up from just 16% who cited it as a top concern in last year's survey. Currency risk was the fourth-highest–ranked concern in the 2016 survey, following only political and regulatory uncertainty, which was cited by 43%; tougher competition (42%); and customer satisfaction and retention (40%).

“It's interesting that currency volatility made it into the top five for the first time,” said Craig Martin, executive director of AFP's Corporate Treasurers Council. “The hit to earnings from currency translation losses has certainly been a factor in multinationals' earnings for well over a year now.”