CFOs urged to put AI governance ahead of agent ROI

Finance chiefs deploying AI agents should use their first projects to test governance and oversight rather than chase immediate returns, according to Gartner. Unlike traditional automation, which follows fixed rules, or generative AI, which produces content, AI agents can interpret objectives, plan steps, execute actions and interact with multiple systems. Greater autonomy raises the possibility that decisions or errors can spread before they are noticed, making traceability and human oversight central to deployment.

Alex Levine, director analyst in the Gartner Finance practice, said: “AI agents are riskier in finance because they act with greater autonomy.”

Gartner argues that early finance pilots are more likely to fail because controls are unclear than because the underlying technology performs poorly. That changes the objective of an initial deployment from proving a financial return to finding weaknesses in oversight before agents are allowed into higher-stakes processes.

Levine said: “The greatest risks and the greatest value lie in establishing oversight, not in chasing quick financial gains.”

Initial use cases should therefore sit inside workflows with clear boundaries, repeatable steps and outputs that can be independently checked. Gartner recommends avoiding processes where mistakes could trigger a financial restatement or affect regulatory reporting, while setting limits on data access, permitted actions and required human review before development begins.

Ownership should also be established across finance, IT and audit or risk functions. Gartner recommends running early agents in a sandboxed environment so teams can observe behaviour and correct weaknesses without exposing live operations.

“CFOs should begin with a low risk, contained workflow where errors are visible and reversible,” Levine said.

Governance design becomes particularly important because AI agent risk extends beyond the final output. Finance teams may need to understand what information an agent accessed, which steps it planned, what actions it took and where human intervention occurred. Without that record, an apparently correct result can still leave control or audit questions unresolved.

Gartner says the risk therefore shifts from the output alone to the process surrounding it. Clear agent boundaries and documented review points allow finance teams to see how an autonomous system reached a result, rather than discovering only afterwards that an action fell outside the intended controls.

Measures of success should reflect that broader requirement. Gartner says pilots should demonstrate consistently applied controls and review points, alongside complete traceability of agent actions.

“Success should be measured by governance readiness, not just autonomy or ROI,” Levine said.

Finance teams should also maintain a failure log recording problems and fixes, with enough detail to reconstruct what an agent planned, accessed and produced for every run. Gartner sees that record as a practical way to turn mistakes in a contained pilot into controls for later deployments.

A successful first project should ultimately leave more behind than a functioning agent. Reusable governance templates, training and review processes can reduce the risk and cost of subsequent deployments, giving CFOs a framework for deciding where greater autonomy can safely be introduced across finance.

 

FASB proposes cash equivalent guidance for digital assets

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed new guidance intended to clarify how existing US accounting rules on cash equivalents apply to certain digital assets, including stablecoins. The proposed Accounting Standards Update would add illustrative examples to help companies assess whether qualifying digital assets meet the current definition of cash equivalents under US GAAP. FASB said uncertainty over that treatment has led to differences in practice.

Importantly, the proposal would not change the definition of cash equivalents itself. Instead, it is designed to make application of the existing standard more consistent where companies hold digital assets that may qualify for presentation alongside cash equivalents.

Companies choosing to classify eligible digital assets this way could therefore gain clearer accounting guidance, while investors would have a more comparable basis for assessing how different businesses treat similar holdings.

Separate disclosure changes would apply more broadly. All entities presenting assets as cash equivalents would be required to disclose significant components and related amounts, regardless of whether those holdings include digital assets.

Greater detail could give finance teams, auditors and investors a clearer view of what sits inside reported cash equivalent balances, particularly as companies consider stablecoins and other digital assets for liquidity, settlement or treasury purposes.

FASB developed the proposal after feedback during its 2025 agenda consultation and other stakeholder engagement highlighted uncertainty around the treatment of certain digital assets.

Any final changes could affect how companies design accounting policies, controls and disclosures around emerging forms of liquidity. Treasury and finance teams considering stablecoins will still need to assess whether individual assets meet the existing cash equivalent criteria, but the proposed examples are intended to reduce ambiguity in that evaluation.

Comments on the proposed update are open until 19 November 2026, before FASB considers whether to issue final guidance.

 

Goldman sees Fed hike risk fading as inflation cools

US interest-rate expectations may be too hawkish as softer jobs and inflation data reduce the likelihood of further Federal Reserve tightening, according to Goldman Sachs Research.

Jan Hatzius, Goldman Sachs Research’s chief economist, said data have weakened the case for additional rate increases. Underlying US job growth slowed to an estimated 5,000 in July, below Goldman’s 50,000 estimate for breakeven growth, while wage growth has remained subdued. Goldman also cautioned that the fall in unemployment to 4.1% from 4.5% reflected lower labour force participation rather than stronger employment.

Inflation has improved. Core personal consumption expenditures rose 0.13% in June and was on track for a 0.20% increase in July, with more than half of the gain coming from portfolio management services.

Writing in the ‘Global Views: They’re Not Hiking’ report, he said: “we continue to expect core PCE inflation to fall to near 2% in 2027.”

Combined, those developments have shifted the balance around the Federal Reserve’s next move. Although nine of 18 FOMC participants projected rate increases in 2026 at the June meeting, Goldman estimated only four or five of the 12 voting members were in that group.

On the September decision, Hatzius said: “Therefore, a hike at the September meeting has become very unlikely, barring a dramatic shift in the tone of the August data due in early September (which we don’t expect).”

Goldman’s baseline outlook assumes US growth remains slightly below potential as consumer spending slows to 1% to 1.5% in the second half of 2026. Business investment and earlier equity-market gains should support activity, but weaker household cash flow and the risk of higher petrol prices if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed could weigh on consumption.

A reduced risk of Fed tightening could affect short-term funding assumptions, deposit returns and the timing of debt issuance or refinancing for corporate treasurers. Goldman’s rates strategists expect the US Treasury curve to steepen further as better inflation data and a lower hike premium meet pressure from the fiscal outlook.

Market pricing still looks too aggressive to Goldman. Hatzius added: “Hence, we still think market pricing for the funds rate is too hawkish.”

Europe presents a different near-term path. Goldman continues to expect the European Central Bank to raise rates once more before reversing course next year.

On the ECB, Hatzius wrote: “With energy prices high but core inflation only modestly above target, we remain comfortable with our call that the ECB will hike by 25bp in September but that the next move is down (we think in mid-2027).”

Diverging policy paths could matter for companies managing dollar and euro funding, investments and FX exposures. A Fed that stays on hold while the ECB delivers one final increase would temporarily preserve a different rate backdrop across the two currencies, before Goldman’s expected European easing begins in 2027.

Goldman’s broader message is that recent data have made renewed tightening less likely than markets imply. For finance teams setting borrowing, investment and hedging assumptions, the key question is how quickly policy moves from holding rates high to preparing for eventual cuts.

 

Swedbank expects Riksbank hikes as Swedish recovery holds

Swedbank expects Sweden’s central bank to resume rate hikes later this year as inflation rises and domestic demand keeps the economy growing at around 2% annually through 2028. In its latest ‘Economic Outlook’, the bank forecasts the Riksbank will raise its policy rate by 25 basis points in November 2026 and again in February 2027, taking the rate to 2.25%.

Underlying inflation, excluding energy and temporary fiscal measures, is expected to climb to just over 2% by year-end and reach 2.7% early next year. Swedbank links the increase to stronger domestic activity, higher freight costs and delayed price effects from the war in the Middle East.

Mattias Persson, group chief economist at Swedbank, said: “As inflation rises and the Swedish economic recovery continues, we anticipate that the Riksbank will want to normalise monetary policy.”

Swedish GDP is forecast to expand by about 2% a year between 2026 and 2028. Household consumption has been rising since 2024 as real incomes recover, while public consumption and investment are being supported by defence spending. Exports are also expected to contribute to growth.

Persson said: “Swedish household consumption has been increasing since 2024, driven by rising real incomes. We expect this trend to continue.”

A return to rate hikes would change borrowing and investment assumptions after a period of easier policy. Higher short-term rates could increase refinancing costs and debt-service burdens, while also lifting returns on cash balances and short-term investments.

Housing activity may also cool as policy tightens. Swedbank expects prices to rise about 4% this year, before slowing to roughly 2% annually over the following two years as higher mortgage rates weigh on demand.

Fiscal policy is expected to provide limited additional support regardless of the outcome of Sweden’s coming election. Swedbank forecasts around SEK15bn of unfinanced reforms in 2027 and SEK25bn in 2028, with public-sector deficits continuing through the forecast period. Government debt is expected to rise gradually while remaining below the 40% of GDP upper limit of Sweden’s debt anchor.

Climate-related pressures add another inflation risk. This summer’s heat is expected to raise Swedish inflation by 0.2 percentage points through higher electricity prices, while disruption to supply chains and food production could add further pressure.

Corporate funding costs, liquidity returns and inflation assumptions may all need to be revisited if Swedbank’s expected November hike materialises. The outlook points to a firmer domestic rate environment even as growth remains relatively steady.

 

Standard Chartered and HSBC test tokenised deposit interoperability

Standard Chartered and HSBC have completed the first live cross-border transaction on Swift’s blockchain-based ledger, testing interoperability between tokenised deposit systems operated by two regulated banks.

During the transaction, payment messages were exchanged between the banks through Swift’s ledger, with resulting obligations recorded on HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service and Standard Chartered’s own tokenised deposit infrastructure. Swift acted as an orchestration layer, matching and netting the obligations before final settlement through existing systems.

Completion of the transaction follows Swift’s announcement in July that its blockchain-based ledger was ready for initial use. Seventeen banks across six continents are preparing to pilot live tokenised deposit transactions through the platform, with a focus on 24/7 payment availability and improved liquidity efficiency.

Interoperability is a central issue for tokenised bank money. Individual banks can create digital representations of deposits on their own infrastructure, but corporate use across institutions depends on those systems being able to communicate and settle obligations without creating separate pools of liquidity or disconnected payment processes.

By linking HSBC and Standard Chartered through a shared ledger, the test shows how tokenised deposit obligations can be coordinated across banks while final settlement remains connected to existing financial infrastructure.

For corporate treasury teams, the practical attraction lies in the possibility of moving liquidity between institutions outside conventional operating windows. Cross-border cash transfers can still be constrained by cut-off times, correspondent relationships and differences between bank systems, particularly when funding needs arise across time zones.

A 24/7 model could give companies more flexibility to reposition cash, fund subsidiaries or meet payment obligations when conventional rails are unavailable. Greater interoperability could also improve visibility if movements between banks can be recorded and reconciled more consistently.

Any broader rollout will depend on how tokenised deposits integrate with existing treasury management, accounting and control frameworks. Companies will need to understand settlement finality, liquidity treatment and how transactions are reflected in bank reporting before using the technology at scale.

Swift’s role is significant because the network already connects banks globally. Its design allows institutions to connect different bank infrastructures through a common orchestration layer without adopting a single proprietary tokenised deposit platform.

Completing a live interbank transaction moves the project beyond testing within individual institutions. Its wider relevance will depend on whether interoperability can deliver faster cross-border liquidity movement without adding new reconciliation, governance or operational burdens for corporate users.

 

JPMorgan and Santander join GM’s $4.5bn inventory financing programme

General Motors has established an inventory financing programme allowing up to $4.5bn of payment undertakings to be outstanding at any time, with JPMorgan and Santander among the banks providing funding.

GM will issue irrevocable payment undertakings to Procura Auto Parts, which will use bank funding to advance money to suppliers. Those suppliers will acquire and hold inventory on GM’s behalf until needed for vehicle production.

The car maker describes the programme as a way to “secure supply of certain critical inventory” during disruptions including extreme weather, natural disasters, cyberattacks in its supply chain and excessive demand. JPMorgan Chase Bank and Banco Santander are named among the syndicate funding the structure.

GM can issue payment undertakings during a 12-month availability period beginning on 7 August 2026. Interest is charged at daily simple SOFR plus 1.55%, while an additional 0.25% annual fee applies to the daily average unused portion of the facility during that period.

Repayment is linked to inventory consumption, with amounts generally due an average of 47 days after the applicable consumption notice is delivered. All outstanding obligations must in any event be paid by 6 August 2029.

GM says it will account for the programme as a product financing arrangement, with supplier prepayments recorded as an asset, while “each IPU will be reflected as unsecured debt”.

Payments made by Procura on GM’s behalf will appear as an operating cash outflow offset by a financing cash inflow. GM will exclude those payments from adjusted automotive free cash flow until it purchases the inventory.

The structure allows GM to secure and pre-fund critical inventory without making the supplier payment in cash at the outset, while recording the resulting financing obligation as debt on its balance sheet.

 

BOCHK and Ant International target real-time treasury services

Ant International and Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK) have agreed a strategic partnership covering cross-border payments, real-time corporate liquidity management and financial services for SMEs across Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

Under the agreement, BOCHK will work with Ant International businesses including Alipay+, Bettr and WorldFirst on a series of payment and treasury initiatives. Several elements remain exploratory, including proposed blockchain-based cash management and AI-supported treasury capabilities.

Bettr and BOCHK plan to examine distributed ledger technology and tokenisation for real-time cash flow management and investment solutions. The partners also intend to combine BOCHK’s foreign exchange pricing capabilities with Ant International’s AI technology to explore more automated treasury services.

Any eventual deployment could give Ant International and its businesses greater flexibility over how liquidity is positioned and invested around cross-border payment flows. Details on currencies, markets, implementation timelines and whether the planned tools will be offered beyond Ant International’s own businesses were not disclosed.

Alipay+ will meanwhile use BOCHK for supporting accounts and settlement banking services across Southeast Asia. Ant International says its unified wallet gateway connects more than 50 mobile payment partners and over 2 billion user accounts globally.

WorldFirst will separately work with BOCHK on cross-border fund management for SMEs trading internationally. Its existing services include multi-currency collections and payments, foreign exchange, treasury management and compliance support across more than 220 countries and regions.

Smaller businesses could benefit if the partnership reduces the need to manage collections, payments and currency conversion across separate providers. Practical value will depend on how far the planned services improve settlement speed, balance visibility and integration between payment activity and treasury processes.

Retail payment services are also included. BOCHK customers can already link bank accounts and credit cards to AlipayHK for peer-to-peer transfers, payments and top-ups, with further joint initiatives planned.

Taken together, the partnership reflects growing efforts to connect payment execution more closely with liquidity management. Its value to corporate users will ultimately depend on whether the proposed real-time and tokenised services translate into faster access to funds, cleaner reconciliation and more efficient cross-border cash positioning.

 

Payments groups form alliance for agentic commerce standards

Rain has launched the Agentic Payments Alliance, bringing together payments and technology companies to develop shared approaches for agent-driven commerce. Founding members include Visa, Mastercard, Fiserv, Circle, Solana and Remitly, alongside payment processors, blockchain networks, compliance providers and digital asset infrastructure firms.

Early work is expected to focus on unresolved areas as AI agents begin making purchases or initiating payments on behalf of users. Priorities include shared research, testing standards for agent identity and authorisation and engagement with regulators.

Payment controls are likely to be central. Agentic commerce depends on determining what an AI agent is allowed to buy, how that authority is verified, how fraud is detected and how benefits such as loyalty or rewards are carried into an automated transaction.

Sherri Haymond, executive vice president and global head of Digital Commercialization at Mastercard, said: “The risk in a moment like this is not that the industry moves too slowly — it's that innovation outpaces alignment.”

Rain said the coalition will be run collectively by its founding members, which will set the charter and mission together rather than leave standards to a single provider.

Farooq Malik, co-founder and CEO of Rain, said: “No single company should get to decide how agents transact on someone's behalf. That has to come from the platforms building the rails, the regulators setting the rules, and the innovators closest to how agents are actually being used today.”

McKinsey has projected that agentic commerce could reach between $3 trillion and $5 trillion by 2030. Potential scale is increasing pressure on payments providers to establish common rules before automated purchasing becomes widespread.

Corporate finance teams will need to address delegated authority, transaction limits, audit trails and how agent-initiated payments feed into approval and reconciliation processes. Without common standards, businesses could face fragmented controls as different agents, platforms and payment providers develop their own approaches.

 

Citi expands real-time custody and liquidity capabilities

Citi has launched a suite of near- and real-time custody services as it expands infrastructure for faster settlement, asset servicing and liquidity management. Called Custody+, the offering brings together real-time asset servicing, faster settlement, on-demand FX, cash and liquidity tools, data services and planned digital asset custody. Citi’s custody business operates in more than 100 markets, including 62 with proprietary infrastructure.

A major component is the US rollout of Citi’s Single Event Processing technology. The bank said processing times for voluntary corporate actions have fallen by up to 92%, with 96% of US voluntary events now completed in under two hours. More than 80% of Citi’s total event volume is now processed in real time.

Cash management capabilities include instant position updates, real-time liquidity sweeping and funding, plus projected cash balances linked to custody transactions. Citi Token Services can also move tokenised deposits on a near-instantaneous, 24/7 basis in selected markets.

Foreign exchange is being integrated more closely with settlement through active and passive FX options, automated hedging and real-time execution. Citi is also using AI in tax processing, where it says documentation times have been reduced by up to 70%.

Data access is another focus, with cloud sharing and API connectivity designed to feed client analytics and AI models. Market information is being delivered through an AI-supported platform covering more than 100 locations.

Digital asset custody is expected to go live later this year, beginning with Bitcoin, alongside traditional custody services. White-label capabilities are also planned for institutions wanting to use Citi infrastructure within their own client offerings.

For institutional finance and treasury teams, the shift is towards custody operations that update positions and liquidity more quickly as settlement cycles shorten. Practical value will depend on whether faster processing also produces cleaner reconciliation, more reliable intraday cash visibility and fewer manual interventions across complex portfolios.

 

Rippling adds embedded treasury investing with Apex

Rippling is adding embedded treasury investing for US business customers through a collaboration with Apex Fintech Solutions. The initial offering will give eligible US entity accounts access to a money market fund sweep programme through Rippling’s platform, using Apex’s AscendOS infrastructure. Plans also include expanding into additional fixed income instruments.

More than 30,000 existing Rippling business customers will be eligible to access the digital investment experience. Account opening will be handled through Rippling, with Apex managing regulatory compliance and approvals, typically within one business day.

Cash held through Rippling’s banking relationship can be made available instantly for investment, while eligible balances can be swept automatically into designated money market funds. Statements and trade confirmations will be integrated into Rippling’s platform.

Apex Clearing will act as the FINRA-registered broker-dealer, while Apex will provide custody, clearing, onboarding and compliance infrastructure.

The tie-up extends Rippling’s finance offering beyond payroll and spend management into short-term cash investment. For businesses already using the platform, bringing treasury activity into the same environment could reduce the need to move between separate banking, investment and operational systems.

Automatic sweeps may also help companies put surplus cash to work more consistently, although finance teams will still need to set appropriate liquidity thresholds and ensure funds remain available for payroll, supplier payments and other near-term obligations.

Further expansion into fixed income could broaden investment choice over time. Practical value will depend on instrument range, yield, liquidity and how clearly balances and transactions feed into companies’ existing cash forecasting and accounting processes.

 

Stripe launches treasury platform for Australian businesses

Stripe has launched Stripe Treasury in Australia, giving businesses a single platform to accept payments, hold and convert funds and pay recipients internationally. The service is designed to reduce the need for companies to move money between separate bank accounts and payment providers. Businesses can access incoming Stripe revenue immediately rather than waiting for funds to settle into an external bank account, which Stripe says typically takes around two days.

Australian customers can receive and hold balances in Australian dollars, US dollars, sterling and euros. They can also convert instantly between 10 supported currencies, including Hong Kong dollars, Singapore dollars and New Zealand dollars.

Payments can be sent to suppliers, contractors and other recipients in nearly 100 countries using an email address. Bringing collections, currency conversion and outbound payments into the same environment could give finance teams faster access to operating cash and reduce unnecessary conversions.

The launch extends Stripe’s role beyond payment acceptance into cash management. Businesses already using the platform for customer receipts can now retain funds there for subsequent payments rather than transferring them first to an external bank account.

Stripe also plans to extend the offering later this year, allowing Australian businesses that operate digital platforms to provide embedded financial accounts to their own customers. The accounts will be powered by Treasury for Platforms, extending the same cash-management infrastructure beyond companies’ own finances and into services they offer their users.

For finance teams, practical value will depend on how effectively the service supports liquidity visibility, controls and reconciliation alongside existing banking arrangements. Faster access to incoming revenue could be useful for businesses with frequent cross-border supplier or contractor payments, where settlement delays can otherwise leave cash temporarily unavailable.

 

Chocolate Finance launches cash management account 

Singapore cash management provider Chocolate Finance has launched Chocolate Business, a cash managed account designed to help companies earn returns on surplus cash while retaining access to funds. Unlike a corporate bank account or fixed deposit, the product invests business cash through a managed account without requiring a fixed tenure. Businesses can request withdrawals at any time, with no withdrawal charges or penalties.

Chocolate Business currently offers 1.5% a year on the first S$300,000, supported by the company’s Top-Up Programme during the qualifying period, and up to 1.5% a year on balances above that amount.

Companies can add funds through FAST transfers or PayNow, with no minimum or maximum funding requirement. Withdrawals typically take between one and two business days depending on the amount, while balances and returns can be monitored daily through a dedicated app.

Chocolate Finance said it only earns fees after meeting its target return. The product is aimed at cash that businesses do not immediately need for payroll, supplier payments or other operating expenses.

For finance teams, the proposition sits between leaving surplus balances in low-yield accounts and locking funds into fixed-term products. The main considerations will be how returns compare with bank deposits and money market alternatives, how quickly cash can be accessed when forecasts change and how the managed-account structure fits with internal liquidity policies.

The launch extends Chocolate Finance beyond its consumer business, which it says has grown to around S$1.6bn in assets under management and more than 150,000 customers since launching two years ago.