FINANCE

Recognition for Professor Duygun

Professor Meryem Duygun, of the University Nottingham, has been recognised as one of the most influential women leading innovation in the UK financial services industry.

Innovate Finance named her in its Women in FinTech Powerlist 2020, within the policymakers and regulatory experts category. She is one of two academics on this year’s Powerlist, which recognises the pioneering women championing financial innovation. FinTech – the combination of finance and technology – is a fast-growing global industry now worth more than £11bn a year to the UK economy.

Dr Duygun, a professor of banking and finance at Nottingham University Business School, established the International Finance and Banking Society at the height of the 2008 financial crisis to provide a collaborative platform for academia, industry and policymakers. It now has more than 5,000 members in 64 countries.

Prof Duygyn said: “I’m dedicated to impactful FinTech research on both national and global scale and supporting the young colleagues of today in becoming the FinTech leaders of tomorrow.”

As the world slowly begins to open up again, businesses engaged in international travel should consider currency risk strategies.

That’s the view of a senior figure at international payments firm Western Union Business Solutions (WUBU), who has urged companies to assess how they make cross-border payments as part of wider cost-saving measures.

International travel is expected to resume from 17 May as part of a “traffic light” system that will categorise countries based on coronavirus infection risk and a set of scaled travel restrictions.

David Prendeville, WUBU’s UK head of foreign exchange, said: “We help many companies in travel and tourism to plan their foreign exchange needs, whether that’s related to booking holidays or overseas expenses.

“The funds are often booked months in advance, with a carefully thought-out strategy to minimise the uncertainties of exchange rate fluctuations.

“We are having to look at new, more flexible strategies to make sure they are not left exposed, whenever the huge pent-up demand for travel is released.”

The first step for businesses, according to David, is to gain visibility on their currency exposure by using tools that can assess the impact of market movements on short-term needs.

This provides better insight on immediate goals and, as a result, helps them better understand longer-term risk. Developing a plan of action should be the next step, using clear metrics to assess progress and measure results against budget or exchange rate targets.

David added: “This added clarity, combined with a simple decision-making matrix, can help our clients to empower their team members to respond faster to market movements.

“For now, it might be a waiting game, but this time can be used for vital planning.”

Planning for currency risks