ATEL Annual Conference 2019: A Quarter Century Run
The ATEL Annual Conference was held on Thursday 19th of June in Luxembourg and marks the association’s 25th anniversary.
Lively treasury community
The 25th ATEL Annual Conference took place at Sofitel Kirchberg and brought together 200 professionals to discuss treasury trends and forecasts ranging from the evolution of payments, the effects of corporate tax and VAT on treasury companies, to capital calls and cybersecurity. The event was sponsored by BearintPoint, BNP Paribas, EIB, EY, ING, Intensum and Refinitiv. “The annual conference is a great way to take stock of the sector’s developments while celebrating our quarter-century run in a friendly atmosphere,” stated François Masquelier, Chairman of ATEL, who then especially thanked Frederique Lambert, the other cornerstone of ATEL’s activities.
“ATEL launched its activities in 1994 with 50 members from diverse backgrounds ranging from treasurers, CFO’s, academics and service providers to bankers. The Association has now 350 members.”
Mind and matter
Following a series of breakaway conferences, the plenary session started with a video of Finance Minister Gramegna congratulating the association on its 25th anniversary and coming back on the establishment of the euro as a great accelerator for the profession and underlining Luxembourg’s key role in maintaining a positive environment for treasurers. Isabelle Badoux followed the minister’s intervention by presenting Sanofi’s treasury transformation journey focusing on centralized treasury, central bank interaction and the conception of a “payment factory.” Luca Lazzaroli, then presented the EIB, the largest multilateral lender and borrower in the world. The institution invests over € 1.2 trillion in innovation, environment, infrastructure and SMEs with a special accent on sustainable growth in Europe. Vince Dimase from Refinitiv concluded the plenary session by presenting the challenging transition from LIBOR to new interest rate benchmarks, and how data – the new oil – facilitates decision-making for treasurers.
25 active years
ATEL launched its activities in 1994 with 50 members from diverse backgrounds ranging from the treasurers, CFO’s, academics and service providers to bankers. The Association has now 350 members and works to raise the level of treasury expertise in Luxembourg by providing training and organizing more than 10 conferences every year. Adding to its mandate, ATEL has issued the 102nd edition of Treasurer Magazine. The association also lobbies very actively at both national and European levels – with the help of EACT - to defend its members’ interests. ATEL is foremost a forum in which treasurers can meet their peers and share their experience, as well as interact with industry stakeholders to find new solutions & opportunities.