TORONTO, April 8 /CNW/ - The chief financial officers (CFOs) of global
banks are wielding increasing influence - and feeling the responsibility that
comes with it - as senior management and directors expect CFOs to sharpen
their focus on strategic issues rather than concentrate solely on monitoring
and reporting financial information, a new survey finds.
Ernst & Young and CFO Research Services' The Finance Operating Model
Matters reveals that in order to rise to the standard now expected of them,
CFOs must first improve their financial operations, which have become
disjointed and inefficient in the wake of rapid growth in the industry. Only
then can CFOs become true strategic partners, helping to evaluate new
products, provide leading indicators on business performance and drive merger
and acquisition opportunities.
"Banks that bring their CFOs to the strategic planning table will be the
real winners in the years ahead," explains Andre de Haan, Ernst & Young's
banking industry leader in Canada. "CFOs have the knowledge to guide their
organizations and help navigate these tumultuous times."
"Finance has always played a crucial role at the world's leading banks,
but the job is evolving," says Sam Knox, Vice President and Director of
Research at CFO Research Services. "CFOs need to spend less time keeping score
and more time leading."
As the lingering credit crunch compels firms to boost their balance
sheets and safeguard against future market shocks, the need to invest in
finance has never been more urgent. The survey - which involved executives at
14 of the world's largest banks - found that CFOs who bring their business
acumen to bear on strategy can have a lasting impact on their firm and the
industry. Banks are aiding this evolution of the CFO by centralizing
responsibility for a wide variety of finance roles to allow a CFO's holistic
perspective to flow to all parts of the organization.
Other leading practices that CFOs and their firms could pursue, according
to the survey, include:- Using shared services to scale and improve the rigor of finance.
Shared services centers can yield highly reliable, timely, and cost-
effective production of the daily transactions for large global
banks. CFOs can start to get meaningful benchmarks and use them to
drive improvements.
- Repairing fragile information infrastructures. Finance could
establish a firm-wide "golden" source of information and analysis to
help ensure high performance in complex, multi-line businesses.
- Aligning finance and risk. Having common frameworks for measuring
business unit performance provides the visibility needed to manage
growth, cost and risk.
- Developing a long-term plan for finance. Just as other functions
within a bank craft multi-year plans, CFOs should have a vision for
how finance can contribute to growth. These plans can also encourage
innovation and seek to develop talent."CFOs are elevating their game to meet the demands of today's market
conditions," says T.J. Letarte, Head of Ernst & Young's Americas' Finance and
Performance Management practice for financial services. "In addition to the
important work they've always done monitoring and reporting, they're also
helping to provide their firms with a comprehensive, actionable view of risk.
By doing so, they're creating more competitive institutions that can face
future challenges more resiliently."
About Ernst & Young's Global Banking & Capital Markets Center
In today's globally competitive and highly regulated environment,
managing risk effectively while satisfying an array of divergent stakeholders
is a key goal of banks and securities firms. Ernst & Young's Global Banking &
Capital Markets Center brings together a worldwide team of professionals to
help you achieve your potential - a team with deep technical experience in
providing assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The Center works
to anticipate market trends, identify the implications and develop points of
view on relevant industry issues. Ultimately it enables us to help you meet
your goals and compete more effectively. It's how Ernst & Young makes a
difference.
About Ernst & Young
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Ernst & Young refers to the global organization of member firms of Ernst
& Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst &
Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide
services to clients.
This news release has been issued by EYGM Limited, a member of the global
Ernst & Young organization that also does not provide any services to clients.
About CFO Research Services
CFO Research is the sponsored research unit of CFO Publishing Corp.,
which publishes CFO magazine in the United States, Europe, China and Asia. CFO
Publishing is an Economist Group business.
For further information: Amanda Olliver, amanda.olliver@ca.ey.com, (416)
943-7121; Julie Fournier, julie.fournier@ca.ey.com, (514) 874-4308
