Corporates are inhabiting parallel but diametrically opposed economic universes. One universe is a place of impending doom where the long talked-about wall of refinancing will crash down on them, sweeping their companies off to oblivion. In contrast, the other universe...

Quality data and relationships are holding back companies from gaining the control over their cash that they need. A survey among treasurers in global companies by Ernst & Young found a relatively relaxed attitude to areas such as funding, which...

When holiday company Thomas Cook went through its full year results to the end of September 2011 just before Christmas it said it was making its £891 million debt mountain “a clear focus”. Since then it has been in negotiations...

If the chief financial officer of your company hasn’t tapped the bond market, what are you playing at? Corporate bonds markets are humming with records tumbling particularly in the US. Every section of the market is getting a look in,...

Reading the Breedon report on Boosting finance options for Finance reminded me of the quote from US republican politician Everett Dirksen: “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.” At last, recognition that collectively...

The power of rating agencies is a by-product of the credit boom, says Peter Williams, but to curtail their influence would be to deny the industry a vital source of informationProspects look grim for the rating agencies. After one round...

Life is changing for chief financial officers looking to define their lending and banking strategy. The news at the start of March that many homeowners were to face an increase in their mortgage rate, despite the rock bottom level of...

Whatever politicians and central bankers stitch together in terms of a deal to solve the euro zone crisis, big business is taking no chances. Debating openly about the options in the event of some catastrophic default has now become acceptable...

Angela Knight, the forceful chief executive of the British Bankers Association, wants constructive results to emerge from the national debate about the future of banking. She condemns the “personal pillorying and lobbying of catchy but insubstantial sound bites”. CFOs agree...

It is easy to see why company investors should worry about cash: because chief financial officers are. The verdict of the latest Deloitte CFO survey reports that finance chiefs are due to spend 2012 worrying about how to increase their...