CFO priorities split between cost control and growth in 2026

CFOs are heading into 2026 with a sharpened focus on cost control and forecasting accuracy, even as a significant minority push to prioritise funding future growth, according to research from Gartner.

A survey of more than 200 CFOs conducted in August 2025 highlights the balancing act facing finance leaders as economic uncertainty, volatile markets and rising expectations collide. More than half of respondents, 56%, ranked enterprise-wide cost optimisation among their top five priorities for the year ahead, while 51% placed improving the accuracy and quality of financial forecasting in the same bracket.

“CFOs are navigating a complex, volatile environment where they need to keep tight control over costs and be more agile with financial forecasting,” said Dennis Gannon, Vice President Analyst in Gartner’s finance practice. “Financially conservative themes focused on improving financial strength and downside risk mitigation are the most common among top five priorities for CFOs heading into 2026.”

Yet beneath that overall conservatism, the data also reveal a clear split in strategic intent. While fewer than half of CFOs listed allocating capital to new growth opportunities as a top-five priority, more respondents ranked it as their single highest priority than any other item. According to Gannon, this suggests a bifurcation between a cohort of finance leaders doubling down on growth ambitions and a larger group focused on shoring up resilience.

Gartner’s analysis suggests that heavy emphasis on cost optimisation carries its own risks. Investors often treat aggressive cost-cutting with scepticism, particularly where savings appear unsustainable or threaten longer-term competitiveness. The research indicates that CFOs who deliver durable results tend to take a more strategic approach, embedding cost discipline into organisational culture rather than relying on blunt reductions. These leaders typically concentrate spending on areas that genuinely differentiate the business, while trimming costs in functions that offer limited competitive advantage.

Alongside cost and capital allocation decisions, the survey highlights unease around the pace and effectiveness of digital transformation in finance. Only 36% of CFOs say they are confident in their ability to drive enterprise-wide impact from artificial intelligence, despite rising investment in AI across corporate functions. Confidence levels drop further when it comes to execution within finance itself, with 44% of respondents feeling assured about accelerating AI use in finance operations.

Talent remains a related pressure point. Just 42% of CFOs express confidence in their ability to hire and retain digitally skilled finance professionals, raising concerns about whether finance teams are equipped to support more data-driven, technology-enabled decision-making.

Gannon describes the findings as a warning sign. “The low confidence in driving value from AI and digitalising finance talent is a wake-up call,” he noted. He argues that CFOs need to pursue two paths in parallel, using embedded AI capabilities within vendor software to generate near-term benefits, while also investing in governance, culture and skills to support longer-term transformation.

Gartner’s advice is that finance leaders should avoid treating technology and talent as separate challenges. Instead, transformation programmes need clear targets for digital capability, with talent plans explicitly linked to broader finance objectives. As CFOs look to 2026, the research suggests that success will depend not only on tighter cost control and better forecasting, but also on whether finance teams can build the skills required to support growth when opportunities emerge.

 

Pound swings push UK corporates deeper into FX hedging

UK corporates are stepping up their approach to foreign exchange risk as sterling volatility reshapes treasury priorities, according to new research from MillTech. Nearly half of businesses surveyed say they have suffered losses linked to FX market swings over the past year, prompting a clear shift towards more extensive and longer-dated hedging strategies.

The MillTech UK Corporate FX Report 2025, based on responses from more than 250 senior finance decision-makers, shows that 48% of firms experienced FX-related losses in 2025. In response, 55% have extended their hedge lengths and 37% have increased hedge ratios to protect cash flows and margins.

Sterling’s sharp moves have been a key catalyst. During the year, the pound reached a four-year high against the US dollar before sliding to its weakest monthly performance in three years, driven by shifting global trade dynamics and geopolitical uncertainty. Against that backdrop, hedging activity has continued to rise. Some 78% of UK corporates now hedge their FX risk, up from 76% in 2024 and 70% in 2023. Among firms that do not currently hedge, more than two-thirds, or 68%, say they are now considering doing so.

Businesses are also covering a greater share of their exposure. The average hedge ratio has climbed to 53%, from 45% a year earlier, while hedge lengths remain elevated at 5.52 months. Although broadly unchanged from 2024, this remains well above levels seen in 2022 and 2023, suggesting corporates are maintaining a more cautious stance as they look ahead.

This heightened focus on risk management is coming at a cost. The research shows that average hedging costs rose by 66% in 2025, with 92% of respondents reporting an increase overall. Almost one in five corporates, or 17%, say their FX hedging costs have more than doubled over the past year. Credit conditions have also tightened, with 70% reporting higher interest rates or fees from providers and 47% seeing stricter lending criteria.

Despite this, satisfaction with existing FX arrangements remains mixed. Just over half of firms, 53%, say they are very satisfied with the FX services offered by their primary banking or FX partner. Looking forward, 26% identify a digital, multi-bank platform with advanced automation as the most attractive solution for managing FX exposure.

Operational challenges persist. Manual processes remain widespread, with email now used by 42% of firms to execute FX trades, up ten percentage points from 2024, while 40% still rely on phone-based execution. Limited internal expertise is cited as the biggest FX challenge by 29% of respondents, followed by securing credit lines at 25% and calculating costs at 24%.

Trade policy uncertainty continues to influence treasury decisions. Almost half of UK corporates report a negative impact from trade tensions and tariffs, while 97% say they have adjusted sourcing or manufacturing strategies in ways that affect FX exposure. At the same time, 84% remain optimistic about the impact of US tariff policy over the next 12 months.

Eric Huttman, CEO of MillTech, said the past year has marked a turning point for many firms. “For many, there has been a realisation that staying partially or entirely unhedged carries financial risks that can no longer be ignored,” he notes, adding that hedging has moved from “a nice to have to a fundamental part of managing currency exposure.”

The report also points to growing momentum behind automation and AI. Automation is now the second-highest operational priority for UK corporates, with reporting, trade execution and end-to-end FX workflows the main targets. AI adoption is accelerating too, particularly in process automation, risk identification and risk management, as finance teams look to operate with greater speed and certainty in an increasingly volatile currency environment.

 

TIS targets post-deadline gaps as treasurers adjust to ISO 20022

Treasury teams are moving from preparation to execution following the November 2025 deadline that requires banks to use ISO 20022 for cross-border payment messaging. As banks complete their cutovers at different speeds, corporates are now dealing with inconsistencies in message formats, reporting standards and data requirements, creating fresh operational challenges after the formal milestone has passed.

Treasury Intelligence Solutions (TIS) says it is responding to this phase of the transition by expanding its translation and conversion services to help corporates manage differences between bank implementations. Rather than assuming a uniform switch to ISO 20022, the approach is designed to sit between legacy corporate systems and evolving bank requirements, translating payment and statement files into bank-specific formats and populating mandatory ISO fields where required.

ISO 20022 replaces a patchwork of older standards with a single, structured data model intended to improve transparency and reduce ambiguity in payment information. For many corporates, however, internal ERP and treasury systems were not built to handle richer datasets, particularly around structured addresses, extended remittance information and enhanced reporting. As a result, treasury teams are encountering practical issues such as rejected payments, truncated messages and reconciliation delays as banks phase out MT formats and introduce CAMT statements.

TIS says its platform draws on a library of more than 140,000 bank-specific profiles to support this translation layer, allowing corporates to continue operating existing systems while adapting to bank-driven changes. The firm has also introduced AI-based tools to help structure data elements that are now mandatory under ISO 20022, including beneficiary address information, which has become a common source of payment friction since the deadline.

“ISO 20022 is a major industry shift, but it shouldn’t disrupt the way companies operate day to day,” said Wouter De Bie, Chief Technology Officer at TIS. “The priority is enabling treasury teams to meet new data requirements while maintaining stability across payments and reporting.”

Beyond payments, the shift to ISO 20022 is also reshaping cash reporting and reconciliation. As banks retire legacy statement formats, treasurers are having to adjust downstream processes such as cash application and forecasting. TIS says demand is growing for tools that can convert statements as well as payments, allowing treasury teams to manage the transition across the full cash lifecycle.

For corporate treasurers, the post-2025 environment highlights that ISO 20022 adoption is uneven and ongoing. While the deadline has passed, banks will continue to refine their implementations over the coming years. Tools that can absorb change at the bank level may offer a way to manage that uncertainty, particularly for organisations looking to avoid rushed upgrades while still preparing for a more data-rich payments landscape.

 

Ant, HSBC and Swift test tokenised deposits for cross-border payments

Ant International, HSBC and Swift have completed a proof of concept testing cross-border transfers of tokenised deposits using ISO 20022 messaging standards across Swift’s network, marking another step in efforts to link emerging digital money models with established global payment infrastructure.

The initiative combines HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service with Ant International’s in-house blockchain technology, using Swift’s messaging network as the connective layer. The test focused on enabling real-time, cross-border treasury movements between HSBC entities in Singapore and Hong Kong, while maintaining the controls and compliance frameworks typically associated with traditional bank deposits.

Tokenised deposits differ from stablecoins or other digital assets in that they represent a direct claim on commercial bank money, with each digital token backed one-for-one by a corresponding deposit. In this proof of concept, the use of ISO 20022 standards allowed tokenised deposits to move within familiar payment workflows, extending existing anti-money laundering and fraud screening processes into a blockchain-based settlement environment.

A key element of the test was the development of a common protocol between Ant International, HSBC and Swift. This approach is intended to reduce the need for bespoke bilateral integrations between corporates and individual banks when accessing tokenised deposit services. Instead, a standardised framework could allow businesses to connect to multiple banks’ tokenised deposit offerings through a single channel, potentially simplifying treasury architecture as digital money models evolve.

The proof of concept highlights how tokenised deposits could support near-instant settlement and 24/7 liquidity management for treasurers without requiring a departure from established banking relationships. By operating over Swift’s existing network and ISO 20022 data formats, the model aims to bridge traditional fiat payments and blockchain-based processes, rather than forcing a choice between the two.

The use of ISO 20022 also points to how richer, structured data could support broader interoperability between digital money and conventional cash management systems. In this test, HSBC’s existing compliance and reporting infrastructure was extended into the tokenised environment, addressing one of the key barriers to adoption for regulated financial institutions and their corporate clients.

While the initiative remains at proof-of-concept stage, it reflects growing industry interest in practical applications of tokenisation that sit within existing regulatory and operational frameworks. Rather than creating entirely new payment rails, the focus is on enhancing current ones with programmability, real-time settlement and improved liquidity visibility.

Ant International, HSBC and Swift say they will continue to build on the results of the test, exploring further pilots and use cases with a view to potential commercial deployment. For treasurers monitoring developments in digital money, the project offers a glimpse of how tokenised deposits could be integrated into mainstream cross-border payments, using standards and networks they already rely on.

 

Fed cuts rates as labour risks tilt outlook towards further easing

The US Federal Reserve has cut interest rates by 25 basis points (bps), lowering the target range for the federal funds rate to 3.5-3.75%, as policymakers respond to slowing job growth and rising downside risks to employment. In its statement, the Federal Open Market Committee said economic activity continues to expand at a moderate pace, but acknowledged a softening labour market. Job gains have slowed over the course of the year, the unemployment rate has edged higher through September, and more recent data are consistent with those trends. Inflation, while off earlier highs, has moved up in recent months and remains somewhat elevated.

Against this backdrop, the committee said uncertainty around the economic outlook remains high and judged that downside risks to employment have increased. The decision to ease policy reflects a shift in the balance of risks, with the Fed reiterating its commitment to supporting maximum employment while returning inflation to its 2% objective over the longer run.

The vote revealed notable divisions within the committee. While a majority supported the quarter-point cut, one member preferred a larger 50 bps move, while two others voted to hold rates steady. The Fed also said it will initiate purchases of shorter-dated Treasury securities as needed to ensure reserve balances remain ample.

Market attention is now turning to what comes next. According to Josh Schiffrin, chief strategy officer and head of financial risk at Goldman Sachs Global Banking & Markets, the latest decision suggests the bar for further easing may be lower than previously assumed.

“We learned from Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Wednesday press conference that the chair has significant concerns about the labour market,” Schiffrin said on Goldman Sachs’ The Markets podcast. “While I think their baseline is to stay on hold and watch and wait, the bar for future cuts isn’t as high as was feared going into the meeting.”

Powell noted that the labour market has continued to cool gradually and suggested recent employment data may be overstating underlying strength. He also warned of “significant downside risk” to labour conditions, reinforcing the Fed’s growing sensitivity to employment data.

Schiffrin said upcoming labour reports will be critical in shaping the policy path, with particular focus on the unemployment rate. The delayed November payrolls report, expected next week, is likely to be closely scrutinised.

Looking further ahead, Goldman Sachs expects the easing cycle to extend into 2026. Schiffrin said the firm’s base case is for the fed funds rate to fall to around 3% or lower over that period, alongside a steepening of the yield curve as markets price in slower growth and a more accommodative policy stance.

 

GTreasury adds AI-driven risk analysis tool to exposure management suite

GTreasury has introduced an AI-driven capability aimed at helping treasury teams interpret and communicate interest rate and foreign exchange risk more efficiently, as firms face growing pressure to translate complex exposure data into clear decision-making insight.

GSmart Risk Insights is embedded within GTreasury’s existing exposure management functionality and is designed to analyse interest rate and FX positions, flag anomalies or policy breaches, and generate concise summaries suitable for senior management and board reporting. The tool forms part of GTreasury’s broader GSmart AI platform.

Treasury teams typically manage large volumes of multi-dimensional exposure data across currencies, maturities and instruments. Turning that information into timely, coherent guidance for senior stakeholders often requires manual analysis, cross-referencing multiple reports and preparing bespoke board materials, a process that can be time-consuming and reactive. GTreasury positions the new capability as a way to bring that analysis directly into day-to-day workflows.

The solution highlights material movements in portfolios, such as approaching maturities, changes in hedge ratios, cost impacts and policy breaches, and provides contextual explanations that link those data points to underlying drivers. The system also generates narrative summaries that can be used in management reporting, with traceability back to the underlying source data.

The tool is designed to sit within existing exposure management processes, allowing treasury teams to work within familiar interfaces rather than adopting separate analytics or reporting tools. According to GTreasury, the aim is to reduce time spent interpreting charts and consolidating data, while improving consistency in how risk is explained to non-specialist audiences.

From a governance perspective, GTreasury says the AI outputs are fully auditable, with visibility into how conclusions are reached and links back to the original exposure data. The platform operates within the firm’s broader AI governance framework, including data isolation at tenant level and controls to ensure customer data is not used to train underlying models.

The launch reflects a wider trend in treasury technology toward embedding analytics and narrative reporting into core systems, rather than treating risk analysis and board communication as separate, manual exercises. As market volatility persists and boards demand clearer, faster insight into financial risk, tools that can contextualise exposure data without removing human oversight are becoming an increasingly common focus for treasury teams. GSmart Risk Insights is available immediately to GTreasury customers using its risk management modules, with further enhancements planned to extend the approach to additional risk areas over time.

 

BMW executes first programmable FX payment on blockchain network

BMW Group has completed what it describes as the first fully automated, programmable foreign exchange transaction by a corporate treasurer on a private, permissioned blockchain, marking a notable step in the evolution of real-time treasury operations.

The transaction was executed using Programmable Payments on Kinexys Digital Payments, the blockchain-based payments network operated by J.P. Morgan. It enabled an automated conversion from euros to US dollars and a cross-border transfer between BMW Group’s treasury entities in Frankfurt and New York, without manual intervention and outside traditional settlement windows.

At the core of the transaction was a set of pre-defined conditions established by BMW Group’s German and US treasury teams. Once those conditions were met, the system automatically performed balance checks, triggered conditional funding, executed the FX conversion and transferred funds between the two locations. The entire process took place onchain, using blockchain deposit accounts, and settled in near real time.

The transaction highlights how programmable payment infrastructure could begin to reshape liquidity management for treasurers. Rather than relying on cut-off times, batch processing or manual execution, treasuries could increasingly define rules that allow funding and FX activity to occur automatically, based on real-time balances and liquidity needs. That capability has implications for intraday liquidity optimisation, working capital efficiency and the ability to operate treasury functions on a 24/7 basis.

BMW Group has been exploring blockchain-based approaches as part of a broader push towards real-time treasury. Stefan Richmann, Head of BMW Group Treasury, said: “We implement a stringent roadmap for real-time treasury on the basis of blockchain technology and other technological innovation developments. The very first fully automated and programmable payment represents a leap forward for us and will allow us to make payment processes faster and more seamless.”

The use of onchain FX also addresses a long-standing constraint in cross-border treasury activity, where currency conversion and settlement timing often create friction. By combining FX execution with programmable logic and continuous settlement, treasury teams could reduce reliance on manual processes and improve visibility over global cash positions.

The transaction represents the first time FX functionality has been enabled through fully automated instructions on the Kinexys network. While only a limited set of currencies is currently supported, the structure demonstrates how blockchain-based payments could be applied beyond pilots and proofs of concept to live treasury use cases.

As more corporates explore real-time treasury models, programmable payments and onchain settlement are increasingly being tested as tools to simplify complex cross-border workflows. BMW Group’s transaction provides a practical example of how those technologies could move from experimentation into operational treasury environments.

 

BofA says AI forecasting saved corporates 250,000 hours in volatile 2025

Bank of America says its AI-driven cash forecasting tool helped corporate clients save more than 250,000 hours in 2025, highlighting how treasury teams are leaning more heavily on automation as market volatility becomes a persistent feature rather than an exception. According to the bank, more than 3,000 companies used its CashPro Forecasting solution during the year to manage liquidity and assess risk amid sharp swings in interest rates, tariffs and currency markets. Cash forecasting remains one of the most time-intensive tasks in treasury, often relying on spreadsheets that can take days to update and quickly become outdated as conditions change.

The bank points to a sharp rise in client engagement during periods of heightened uncertainty. In the second quarter, the number of forecasting workspaces created and shared within organisations rose 113% above typical levels, with activity peaking in mid-April and again in June. Bank of America says this reflects a growing need for shared, real-time visibility across finance teams as companies respond to fast-moving economic developments.

“Economic uncertainty is the new normal across global markets,” said Winnie Chen, Head of Global Payments Solutions for Asia Pacific at Bank of America. “It’s critical we equip our clients with the best tools, insights, and resources so they can navigate this complexity with confidence and make timely, informed decisions.”

CashPro Forecasting sits within the bank’s broader CashPro platform, which clients use for treasury, trade and cross-border payments. The forecasting tool automatically integrates account data and applies machine learning models to analyse global cash positions and produce forward-looking projections. The bank says forecasts that would traditionally take up to a week to build can now be generated in minutes, allowing teams to test scenarios and respond more quickly to market events.

The tool supports forecasting horizons ranging from next-day liquidity through to projections a year ahead, and can incorporate data from accounts held at other banks to provide a consolidated view of cash positions. Bank of America says this has proved particularly valuable during periods of volatility, when treasury teams need to understand how external shocks could affect liquidity and funding requirements across the group.

The scale of time savings reported by the bank underlines a broader shift in treasury operations. As volatility persists, forecasting accuracy, speed and collaboration are becoming operational priorities rather than incremental improvements. For many corporates, the focus is no longer just on producing a forecast, but on ensuring it is current, shareable and robust enough to support decisions in uncertain conditions.

 

Factoring volumes must quadruple to unlock SME growth in Africa - Afreximbank

Africa needs to scale factoring volumes to at least €240bn to support SME-led economic transformation and build more resilient supply chains, according to Afreximbank, as financing constraints continue to hold back small businesses across the continent.

Speaking at Afreximbank’s annual Factoring Workshop in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the bank said factoring and supply chain finance remain significantly underdeveloped relative to Africa’s economic potential. While factoring volumes have more than doubled over the past seven years, rising from €21.6bn in 2017 to €50bn in 2024, activity still falls well short of what is needed to close the continent’s SME financing gap.

SMEs account for more than 90% of businesses in Africa and generate over 60% of employment and GDP, yet Afreximbank estimates they face an annual financing shortfall of around US$300bn. To catalyse growth, the bank argues that factoring volumes must rise to roughly €240bn, equivalent to around 10% of Africa’s GDP.

Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade and Export Development at Afreximbank, said that reaching this level would require a coordinated effort across financing, legal reform, skills development and industry collaboration. She noted that although nearly 200 factoring companies now operate across the continent, market depth remains limited.

Industry figures at the workshop reinforced the role of factoring and supply chain finance in addressing structural challenges faced by African SMEs, particularly long payment cycles and restricted access to bank credit. FCI secretary general Neal Harm described factoring as a practical tool for converting receivables into immediate liquidity, calling for stronger partnerships to translate policy discussions into higher transaction volumes.

The potential remains uneven across markets. Côte d’Ivoire’s factoring and supply chain finance opportunity alone is estimated at US$5bn, yet only 12% of SMEs currently seek working capital from formal financial institutions. High financing costs, strict lending criteria and slow approval processes continue to push many businesses towards informal funding sources.

Afreximbank said expanding factoring capacity will also support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, by improving cash flow across regional value chains and strengthening intra-African trade.

 

FAB partners Amundi to broaden GCC investment offering

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has entered into a strategic partnership with European asset manager Amundi, aimed at expanding access to investment solutions across the Gulf Cooperation Council and strengthening FAB’s investment management capabilities.

The collaboration, formalised through a memorandum of understanding, is designed to cover a broad range of investment strategies across asset classes, client segments and delivery formats. The partnership brings together FAB’s regional reach and client base with Amundi’s global investment expertise, at a time when demand for diversified and professionally managed investment products continues to grow across the GCC.

Under the agreement, the two institutions will work together to develop and distribute investment solutions for retail, private banking and institutional clients. The focus is on enhancing product depth and choice, while supporting the region’s ambition to build a more sophisticated and globally connected asset management ecosystem.

For institutional investors and treasury teams, the partnership could widen access to international investment strategies within the region, offering additional options for portfolio diversification and liquidity deployment. As market volatility persists and interest rate expectations remain uncertain, demand has increased for investment solutions that balance risk management with longer-term return objectives.

The agreement marks Amundi’s first partnership of this kind in the UAE and aligns with its broader strategy to expand in high-growth markets. For FAB, the partnership reflects an ongoing push to deepen its investment offering and build alliances that enhance its wealth and asset management proposition.

The collaboration is expected to evolve over time, with both parties exploring opportunities to introduce new investment products and capabilities tailored to regional market needs. While no specific products have been announced, the partnership signals a longer-term commitment to developing scalable investment solutions across the GCC.