At the Head of the Currency Roundtable

A recent Treasury & Risk article described the results of a Deloitte survey as pointing to an “evolution” of the corporate treasurer “from number cruncher to partner in strategic decision-making.” That evolution is occurring at the same time that shifts in currency exchange rates are having an increasingly serious impact on financial statements in every corner of the organization.

Volatility is way up this year in most major currencies. And when, for example, the once-stable Swiss franc rises in value by 30 percent in a single day, that swing will affect predictability and budgets from the C-suite to financial planning and analysis. Likewise, consider how the plummeting value of the euro would impact the supply chain and operations teams in a company that is purchasing goods in pounds sterling or dollars as inputs to a product that will sell in euros.

The value of a strategic corporate treasurer extends in both directions: A strategic treasurer can help each corporate function take currency risks into consideration when making decisions around supply chain management, pricing and sales terms, outsourcing, expansion plans, and many other areas of the business. While at the same time, when other corporate functions are consulting regularly with the strategic treasurer, that dialogue gives treasury a more comprehensive global view that helps with optimizing the management of currency risk for the business overall.