For some of us, the reveal of the Sibos location and agenda is the closest thing to that feeling of checking a festival line-up in our younger days – however the tents are replaced with rather nice hotels and the Kings of Leon with chats about artificial intelligence and settlement cycles. This year’s Sibos returns to North America for the first time in six years as Toronto hosts the annual event once again, and the great news for the asset servicing industry is that securities are featured prominently on the agenda once again. Whether it is through direct discussions around settlement times, post-trade data or servicing digital assets or through broader themes such as artificial intelligence, ISO 20022 and tokenisation – there’s a plethora of securities themes to take in over the four-day event.
No surprises here: T+1 gets a lot of attention
Are we ready for accelerated settlements? The answer in June/July is no – but where will we be by September? The testing stage will have started, and in a panel under the Sibos Academy banner – members of ISITC EU, DTCC, CSDC and the CCMA will discuss global readiness and dive into some of the challenges to reaching this important milestone. Rather than some of the more familiar moderators in the space, this session will be chaired by Tony Gandy from the London Institute of Banking and Finance who will walk the audience through the findings of his crucial research on this topic. In addition, a CEO panel including some of the largest securities infrastructure will also explore the subject discussing the greatest concerns about the move and how will it impact operational teams around the world.
Unlocking the potential of the Unique Transaction Identifier
Swift has recently been pushing the message that adopting the Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI) can bring the transparency the securities industry needs to avoid securities settlement fails, increase efficiency, and improve the experience of all parties across the entire trade settlement lifecycle. Unlocking its potential is said to help firms avoid settlement fails and more efficiently handle investigations. But as a panel at this year’s event will discuss, the possibilities go well beyond settlement. From claims management, to portfolio transfers, inventory management and more, in this session experts will unpack how the industry can maximise the benefits of UTI to solve more post-trade inefficiencies.
Making the most of post-trade data: Cloud, AI and real-time analytics
One of the biggest ongoing topics within the securities services world remains data – and more specifically – continuing to improve capabilities to meet client needs (which are arguably evolving at a quicker pace than the industry can handle). In the synopsis for the panel session on post-trade data, the conference organisers highlight that much of this friction is caused by poor data quality and data fragmentation, struggles with legacy technology and the increasing need for actionable data insights. Experts will discuss how the industry can use data empowered by new technologies to bring predictability and transparency to securities markets and delve into how more sophisticated tools can support complex analysis of multiple financial and risk factors to drive optimal use of the balance sheet, regulatory capital, liquidity and funding.
The broad look at digital assets (the umbrella term for everything)
When we say digital assets we are talking about everything from CBDCs to tokenisation to cryptocurrencies, and of course the underlying technology. Though not a new entrant to the Sibos agenda, this theme is definitely taking centre stage this year – whether you want to learn more about digital assets from a payments or securities point of view. Though the conversation has certainly moved on from just the servicing of crypto assets by incumbent custodians, this year is very much dedicated to tokenisation and CBDCs as panellists debate where we are at on the journey and where the final destination resides. Expert a lot of talk about interoperability and digital assets needing to integrate seamlessly within the existing financial ecosystem.
ISO 20022 and securities markets
First and foremost, before getting into the Sibos coverage of this matter, we should recommend that you go and listen to our podcast featuring Juliette Kennel, head of standards at Swift, and Christine Strandberg, regulatory manager for Investor Services at SEB who discussed the adoption of ISO 20022 for securities messaging with Richard Schwartz, special projects editor at Global Custodian – it serves as a great preview of this subject and the conversation covers the advantages of ISO 20022 over the popular ISO 15022 format, the customer experience in adopting it and the potential timeframe for migration. Once that has wet your appetite there are two intriguing sessions on ISO 20022 and the securities markets at Sibos this year. Firstly, one which takes stock of the current and future uses of ISO 20022 in the securities post-trade sector which also shares insights and results from the recent joint survey by the International Securities Services Association (ISSA) and the European Central Securities Depository Association (ECSDA). And the second which asks ‘Is it time for securities market infrastructures to agree on a common way forward for applying the new standard now too?’
Global Custodian projects
We have to admit that we are delighted to see so much securities content at Sibos – it’s always been on the agenda but its prominence ebbs and flows over the years – which means that we get great editorial content, but also that it attracts more securities services providers than ever before. Because of this, Global Custodian will be running three roundtable discussions during the event, along with daily wrap-up videos in partnership with Digital Asset and, of course, will be conducting video interviews around the conference. So if you are interested in being involved in any of these projects then get in touch with jon.watkins@globalcustodian.com for more information.