Peter Drucker, the leading management thinker of the last century, had five magic questions for any company he advised. These questions unlocked the thinking in companies about how they could run and grow their business:

1. What is your mission?
2. Who is your customer?
3. What does your customer value?
4. What results do you seek?
5. What is your plan? 

For the corporate treasury department, asking these basic business questions in turn about what they do, could also unlock the thinking about how they can run and refine their department.

Five critical corporate treasury questions 

Over the last few weeks, five questions for the corporate treasury department have come to the fore:

1. How far do we let any single bank or supplier dominate our operations and treasury management?
2. Is there any part of our operation in which we can practically and cost-effectively use APIs?
3. How can we use the third party database linked services to:
   • Manage the KYC with banks and financial institutions?
   • Manage LEI profile codes?
   • Minimse the impact of regulatory compliance?
4. How far can we minimise the number of banks we use to:
   • Cut our costs?
   • Minimise KYC requirements and hassle?
   • Get a handle on our bank charges?
5. Is there a cost effective way to use the myriads of new payment systems being launched that complements and enhances our business?

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CTMfile take: All important initiatives start with questions………..