Sibos 2018 in Review: Driving Speed and Transparency

This year's Sibos, the fortieth anniversary of the marquee conference, drew over 7,000 bankers to Sydney from October 22nd - 25th. The conference theme of 'Enabling the Digital Economy' set the tone for much of the conversation. BNY Mellon's delegation of 26 industry leaders and speakers took that theme to heart, and observed the extent to which digitalization and other broad trends are driving the shift in thinking. Participants in the global financial system are more focused on the speed and transparency of transactions than ever before. For BNY Mellon and other providers in the industry, this focus raises the bar for delivering solutions that better address client needs.

Paul Camp, Chief Executive Officer, BNY Mellon Treasury Services, described the overall pulse at Sibos as follows: 'The hot topics are transparency, speed of payments, investment in technology, and doing all of this for the benefit of clients. What we're all doing is investing in technology to enable our clients around the world to send and receive money real time, super-fast, efficiently, with transparency around fees, and all of that is wrapped with liquidity movement as well. So the industry is evolving but it's all about delivering value to clients.'

In addition, BNY Mellon thought leaders shared various perspectives as speakers on topics that demonstrate this 'faster, more transparent' world.

Saket Sharma, CIO Treasury Services, kicked off day one at Sibos in Sydney on a panel talking about SWIFT's Customer Security Programme (CSP) - 'Current Progress and Future Roadmap' - and how BNY Mellon is helping clients reinforce the safety and security of their infrastructures against cyber-threats. CSP helps the entire community strengthen counterparty risk frameworks. 'Global Transaction Banks also need to play the role of advocate and keen supporter of CSP to keep everyone focused,' said Sharma.

Sharma went on to discuss BNY Mellon's accomplishments with compliance, counterparty attestations, and continued education, internally and with clients.

Sharma's concluding words: 'We are only as secure as the last member on the network.'

On day two, Bana Akkad Azhari, Regional Head of Relationship Management for Middle East & Africa and Commonwealth of Independent States, moderated a panel discussing China's 'One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative. The initiative will improve trade flows between China and countries across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Akkad Azhari prompted panelists to explore whether the OBOR initiative can learn from China's investment in infrastructure and systems to support its growth, and whether a 'one size fits all' is appropriate.
Akkad Azhari concluded that '[OBOR] effectively constitutes what could be the largest and potentially most transformative engineering effort in human history' with huge impacts to how trade is conducted. As global trade dynamics shift, she added, 'it could become the main driving force behind global economic growth in the next 20 to 30 years.'

Later the same day, Fred DiCocco, Managing Director, Global Head Product Strategy and Marketing, BNY Mellon Treasury Services joined a panel on 'FX Market Changes and Impact on Correspondent Banking.' DiCocco focused on the lack of trust in the FX industry, the adoption of the FX Global Code, and the potential knock-on implications in other segments, such as correspondent banking.

'So far, the FX Global Code is impacting industry and market participants with greater transparency and improved market behavior including the tightening of spreads, reduction in reject rates and hold times, and increasing market liquidity,' DiCocco said.

Speaking of BNY Mellon's experience with the Code, DiCocco stated that it is important to approach the adoption country by country, with an emphasis on training and understanding at all levels. Additional work is still needed to fill gaps and improve transparency.
On day three, Michael Bellacosa, Managing Director, Head of Global Payments Product Management, BNY Mellon Treasury Services. Mr. Bellacosa participated in a panel discussing the progress and benefits of SWIFT gpi in global payments. SWIFT gpi is essential to delivering more robust, faster, and more transparent cross-border payments with faster and more traceable settlement.

Finally, while at Sibos, BNY Mellon announced the launch of an innovative, interactive digital content experience, and an integrated payments solution developed for Bank of the West to help deliver faster payments solutions for its commercial clients through connectivity to the latest payment capabilities.

'Sibos is an invaluable opportunity to connect with clients and with industry stakeholders,' concluded Camp. 'This year in Sydney was no exception.'