[This is an update, now with the video, of the original news post from the conference day, 20 October.]
Kristoffer Lykke-Olesen came on stage at Axelborg on 20 October, sketching his treasury’s situation today – and its path into the future – with the Treasury 360° Copenhagen conference.
ISS is a global giant in facilities services – in cleaning, not least. With half a million employees, whose wages make up two thirds of all costs, getting salaries paid on time was a must. Securing liquidity was another top priority. The company quickly took up a 700 million-dollar liquidity facility, to make sure there would not need to be any speculation on its ability to pay.
While most operational systems were paralysed under the ransomware attack, the cash positions stayed relatively transparent as these systems were largely provided by bank partners. In the situation, the cash balances became a main indicator for the business managers in trying to follow how the business was going.
With nearly no assets, and currency flows locally matched in the many national markets, ISS will not attempt to have the most advanced treasury in the world. But the winter’s double punch helped push Kristoffer Lykke-Olesen’s treasury function in a direction he does believe in: becoming a partner to the rest of the organisation when it comes to understanding the importance of cash flows and collaboration. In his Tuesday presentation, one of his slides was fittingly labelled “Dual crisis – twice the opportunity”.