Summary: CFO Forum in Miami

After the recession in Latin America, a recovery will depend on the capacity of regional governments to make the necessary fiscal reforms, according to financial executives gathered at the most recent Council of the Americas CFO Forum in Miami on September 30.

The first session was an economic outlook for 2017 by Ehiwario Efeyini, senior vice president and senior research analyst at U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. In 2017, the region's economy as a whole is expected to grow 1.9 percent, up from a 1.3 percent drop this year. This is good news for investors, he said, since "the biggest stock returns occur when economies move from recession to recovery." 

Foreign exchange management best practices

During the second session, participants shared best practices for foreign exchange management. Topics included how finance executives can help contain and minimize risk when doing business across borders.

"We help our partners in the region to conduct hedging of foreign exchange risk in their operations," said Maria Murillo, chief financial officer of Microsoft in Latin America.

Multijurisdictional leadership, administration, and planning

As the world and economies become more interconnected, CFOs have to deal with multiple issues when operating across multiple jurisdictions. The tasks of today's CFO include planning, budgeting, compliance, working capital, and process efficiencies. But at the same time, a finance executive has to increase performance levels and efficiency.

"Today's CFO must be a Swiss Army Knife with various functions and abilities," said Alan Galmes, vice president and CFO of Bunge Latin America.

This summary was prepared by Latin Trade.