About Me

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I am former editor of The Banker, a Financial Times publication. I joined the publication in August 2015 as transaction banking and technology editor, was promoted to deputy editor in September 2016 and then to managing editor in April 2019. The crowning glory was my appointment as editor in March 2021, the first female editor in the publication's history. Previously I was features editor at Profit&Loss, editorial director of Treasury Today and editor of gtnews.com. I also worked on Banking Technology, Computer Weekly and IBM Computer Today. I have a BSc from the University of Victoria, Canada.

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Get Up, Get Into It, and Get Involved

07 Nov 2011

Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the US, took centre stage at the 2011 AFP annual conference in Boston.

The annual conference of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) officially opened last night in Boston with the best attendance in its 25-year history: more than 6000 delegates and a record number of corporate practitioners - 2308 - have registered for the conference.

Attendees almost stampeded into the hall to hear the opening plenary keynote speaker, ex-US president Bill Clinton. Clinton’s speech focused on the challenges and opportunities presented by the turbulent times faced by the global economy. He spoke of the inequality in the world and the responsibility of corporates, not only to their shareholders, but also to their increasingly global communities and the long-term stability of the system.

When asked by Michael Connolly, chairman of the AFP and vice president - treasurer, Tiffany & Co, how he defined leadership, Clinton listed four criteria:
  1. To be able to have an accurate assessment of where the organisation you are leading is at.
  2. To have a vision for the future.
  3. To have a strategy to realise the vision.
  4. To have the ability to execute the strategy.

AFP Pinnacle Grand Prize 2011

Recognising leadership and excellence in treasury, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) outshone other competitors to win the AFP Pinnacle Grand Prize, sponsored by Wells Fargo. OPG’s treasury team executed a financing programme with unique technical features that resulted in considerable savings.

The strategy addressed short-term financing requirements during construction through a commercial paper programme and bullet bonds, rather than with traditional bank financing and amortising bonds, resulting in savings in excess of US$50m for the project.

OPG was chosen from among two other finalists: Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft. OPG, HP and Microsoft were selected as the three Pinnacle Finalists because their solutions made treasury and finance operations run more efficiently and effectively at their organisation.

Benchmarking

During his welcoming speech, Connolly made the point that during these uncertain times, it is important to get up, get into it, and get involved - borrowing from the James Brown song. He stressed the important role the AFP plays in lobbying regulators and influencing the industry as a whole, particularly through surveying its membership on significant developments in the market.

This morning I am going to the session ‘2011 AFP Benchmarking Survey Results’, which takes a closer look at bank relationship management. The presenters will discuss key metrics from the survey, the importance of credit in relationships, criteria used in selecting banking providers and will identify the characteristics top performing companies use in managing their bank relationships.

First published on www.gtnews.com 

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