Asia’s CFOs and corporate treasurers may have greeted with a wry smile the news that the European Commission has allowed a further six-month transaction period during which payments differing from the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) format can still be accepted. This means finance need not worry that non-SEPA format payments will be rejected by 1 February 2014, the original deadline. The new deadline is 1 August 2014.
By Markus Straußfeld, Head of International Cash Management Sales at UniCredit