Karen Sloan is head of payments and cash management at HSBC Corporate Banking, Ireland. Sloan spends most of her day discussing treasury and cash management topics with both local and international colleagues, while maintaining close relationships with Irish and international clients. She says client activity is at a high at the moment as a result of the Single European Payment Area (SEPA), which she says is a unique opportunity for clients 'to re-engineer their bank account and liquidity management structures to streamline processes.'

Putting experience into practice: Colm McGuire is a founding partner of McGuireDesmond, the Cork based law firm. Having worked as an associate at the Dublin and London offices of Matheson Ormsby Prentice McGuire established McGuireDesmond with Ciaran Desmond in 2000 with the experience of working during the early days of Matheson Ormsby Prentice's London office giving him the confidence to start a new practice.