A study conducted by SunGard reveals that the role of corporate treasurer has transformed over the past few years due to changes in the global economy.

The study interviewed 100 treasury professionals, 31% of which nominated a holistic view of risk as their top priority. 27% believed that streamlining bank communications was the highest priority, while 21% felt that consolidating payment flows was most significant.

The study also highlights the changing role of treasury professionals which has expanded beyond cash management due to an altered regulatory environment and new innovations in technology.

Craig Martin, executive director of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), corporate treasurers council explains: “Corporate treasurers are responsible for protecting the liquidity and managing the risk across the organisation, putting them in a position to impact their company’s ability to remain competitive and grow. With the right tools in place, corporate treasurers are able to be strategic and accurately forecast their cash, understand their risk exposures and help increase their company’s liquidity.”

Paul Bramwell, senior vice-president, treasury solutions, at SunGard’s AvantGard business unit adds: “Best-practice organisations are implementing treasury technology to help corporate treasurers better determine and manage their financial risk. Corporate treasurers are also looking for more services to be delivered through the bank communication channel including electronic bank account management (eBAM).”

In order to help meet this requirement, Swift has selected SunGard for its eBAM central utility pilot to help corporations achieve straight-through-processing of eBAM messages, the firm says in a statement.

“With bank connectivity streamlined, corporations are now also looking internally to payment initiation systems and greater demand for standards and integration with treasury and bank systems,” Bramwell adds.