Recap & Recording: Smarter FX Risk Management for Today’s Treasury Teams

Key Takeaways

Konstantin Khorev

Quality of data is a bigger challenge than quantity.

“The problem is actually nowadays with the quality of data, because data can be missing, incomplete, or simply spread across different accounting systems.”

Many organisations already have large amounts of data available. The real challenge is ensuring that information is complete, accurate and consolidated so treasury can confidently identify and manage FX exposures.

Data without business context has limited value.

“Many cases, you really need to go much beyond the data and understand what actually stands behind the data in terms of your business.”

The bigger picture: Numbers alone rarely tell the whole story. Treasury professionals need to understand the commercial drivers behind exposures to determine whether and how they should be hedged.

Chris van Dijl

Understanding the business comes before managing FX risk.

“As Konstantin really said, we really have to go into the business, and we have to understand the business. But in the end, you can only hedge your FX exposure with data.”

Chris highlighted that effective hedging starts long before executing financial instruments. Treasury needs to understand commercial activities, future cash flows and operational realities before exposures can be managed effectively.

Strong internal relationships improve risk management.

“Building that network, that reputation internally is very important to make sure that you have all the data, not just the system, because that’s already happened.”

Key insight: Technology is valuable, but it cannot replace collaboration. Treasury becomes more effective when colleagues across the organisation actively share information and involve treasury early in business decisions.

Barry van der Laan

Scenario planning creates confidence during uncertainty.

“It identifies the main risk scenarios in advance, and then agrees what those scenarios would mean for the business, so you should have that ready in advance.”

Barry stressed that organisations should prepare for multiple market outcomes before volatility strikes. Having predefined scenarios allows treasury to respond faster and with greater confidence when markets move unexpectedly.

Markets should support business decisions—not drive them.

“If a Treasury team looks only at market prices or sudden moves, the risk is that the discussion becomes very market-driven and not business-driven.”

This serves as an important reminder that exchange rates are only one part of the picture. Treasury should always evaluate market movements within the context of the company’s commercial objectives and overall risk appetite.