More than 200 delegates and exhibitors will represent the Arab community at Sibos 2016 to discuss the future of the financial services with industry peers from around the world
Dubai, 29 August 2016 – SWIFT, a member-owned cooperative and global provider of secure financial messaging services, announces today that more than 200 delegates and exhibitors from the Arab region will take part in Sibos 2016, which will be held in Geneva from 26-29 September.
Over 8,000 banks, financial and securities institutions, regulators, corporate customers and service providers meet at Sibos, which is held at one of the global financial markets every year, to discuss the issues and trends that shape the financial industry. The Middle East market was first introduced to Sibos in 2013 when the event was held at the World Trade Centre, making it one of the largest events in Dubai in recent years.
This year’s theme is “Transforming the Landscape”. The conference will explore evolving payments and securities industry trends, the latest from the financial crime compliance world, innovation, opportunities and challenges in technology, disruptive competition and cultural shifts, as well as other hot topics impacting the financial landscape.
Sido Bestani, SWIFT’s Head of Middle East, Turkey and Africa, says: “Sibos remains at the forefront of global discussions about the future of the financial industry. SWIFT’s regional community, including banks, financial institutions, regulators and corporates, are keen to take part in the debates that will shape their future.”
Exhibitors from the region include the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar’s QNB Group.
Delegates and exhibitors from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon will have the opportunity to take part in discussions with regional and global industry experts. Over 200 delegates have already registered from the region. Sessions will debate how the shifting sanctions landscape will change compliance dynamics and cover topics on how to safely bank low-risk clients in high risk jurisdictions. In addition, they will have the opportunity to consider how some markets are responding to the real-time payments trend.
Discussions will also focus on the role of Financial Market Infrastructures, the European Commission and European Central Bank’s views on the single market and capital markets union. Additional sessions will look at distributed ledger technology (DLT, also known as blockchain) and the next steps in terms of adoption by the financial industry.
Khaled Moharem, Head of Middle East and North Africa at SWIFT, says: “SWIFT regularly engages with the financial community about issues of tactical and strategic importance to their businesses. Sibos provides the opportunity for the community to meet with like-minded institutions and experts from around the world to exchange ideas and work on common solutions to shared challenges from a global perspective. The Middle East financial industry’s growing support for Sibos is clearly illustrated by the number of participants from the region.”
SWIFT is also organising the Business Forum UAE on 25 October 2016 under the theme: “Building for the future: regulation, innovation and the transformation of banking”. The event is an opportunity for the SWIFT community to come together to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing the UAE today. Keynote speeches and panel discussions will focus on recent developments in financial crime compliance, the impact of global regulations on the UAE, corporate banking and FinTech innovation.
About Sibos
Sibos is the world’s premier financial services event. Sibos is an annual conference, exhibition and networking event organised by SWIFT for the global financial industry. In just one week, some 8,000 decision makers and topic experts from financial institutions, market infrastructures, multinational corporations, and technology partners gather in one place to do business and collectively shape the future of payments, securities, cash management and trade.
For more information about Sibos, please visit www.sibos.com or visit us on Twitter: @Sibos #Sibos or LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/company/Sibos
Perhaps the biggest division of opinion in financial services is between those who believe that mutual distributed ledger (MDL, aka blockchain) technology will transform finance out of recognition and those who believe the technology will be of some marginal benefit. Hysterical blockchain hype has significant momentum. Unrealistic expectations are building that the technology on its own will address the underlying need for co-ordination without strategic management, time and resource commitment, let alone regulatory support. In research for the SWIFT Institute Professors Michael Mainelli and Alistair Milne tested three hypotheses about post-trade processing with practitioners in global securities markets, viz. (a) what constituted appropriate access to mutual distributed ledgers; (b) whether change would be piecemeal or ‘big bang’; and (c) how to change settlement processes. MDL technology has the potential to transform several areas in financial services by changing the nature of central third party roles, principally by reducing their natural monopoly effects and reducing switching costs. Their research concluded that there could be substantial near-term cost and risk reductions for financial services firms from sharing data mutually via MDLs. Ultimately, MDL roll-out unease come more from discomfiture about restructuring incumbent financial power structures than the typical fears surrounding technological implementation.discussion with the European Commission, ECB and industry representatives to explore next steps towards making the vision a reality. discussion with the European Commission, ECB and industry representatives to explore next steps towards making the vision a reality.
About SWIFT
SWIFT is a global member-owned cooperative and the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services.
We provide our community with a platform for messaging and standards for communicating, and we offer products and services to facilitate access and integration, identification, analysis and financial crime compliance.
Our messaging platform, products and services connect more than 11,000 banking and securities organisations, market infrastructures and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories, enabling them to communicate securely and exchange standardised financial messages in a reliable way. As their trusted provider, we facilitate global and local financial flows, support trade and commerce all around the world; we relentlessly pursue operational excellence and continually seek ways to lower costs, reduce risks and eliminate operational inefficiencies.
Headquartered in Belgium, SWIFT’s international governance and oversight reinforces the neutral, global character of its cooperative structure. SWIFT’s global office network ensures an active presence in all the major financial centres.
For more information, visit www.swift.com or follow us on Twitter: @swiftcommunity and LinkedIn: SWIFT