International cash management: A study of the practices of U.K.-based companies

Little information is available on the current practices of cash and foreign-exchange management by companies—especially outside the United States. The purpose of this survey was to investigate responsibilities and practices of international cash management. Although the survey had a much broader scope, this article addresses six important issues with regard to cash and foreign-exchange management: policy and responsibility, centralization versus decentralization, cash-flow planning and foreign-exchange forecasting, banking relationships and cash management services, hedging translation and transaction exposures, conflicts with other departments. Although the size of the sample is too small to permit statistically significant conclusions, some interesting findings can be drawn from this study.