Choppy waters lie ahead though, stirred by
growing economic and political turbulence,
not to mention the ongoing disruption
caused by Covid-19. The sheer reach of
SWIFT’s global coverage brings with it
huge responsibilities. SWIFT operates in a
multipolar world and it is accustomed to
navigating geopolitical challenges and the
consequences of decision-making by the
EU, US, Russia, China and other countries.
This is why its neutrality, and its focus
on the broad financial community, is
so important.
It is that commitment to fostering a global
community that has led, in 2020, to the
creation of the first all-digital Sibos in the
event’s 43-year history. Faced with the
challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic,
and the risk of bringing a massive global
audience together in person, SWIFT could
have cancelled the event this year. Instead,
it determined that in an era defined by
social distance it was more important
than ever to bring the community together
– albeit in a format more fitting with
the times.
In keeping with the notion of supporting
a diverse and dynamic ecosystem, SWIFT
defines community broadly. This year’s
Sibos (which takes place between 5–8
October) covers topics such as trade
digitisation taxonomy, which is not only of
interest to financial institutions, but also
takes into consideration the impact and
opinion of corporates. More than 2,000
corporates are SWIFT members and its
strong relationship with that community
(mainly at the multinational corporation
end) has helped with the development of
banking services that, in turn, translate into
better experiences for corporate treasurers.
SWIFT gpi is one shining example – the
engagement of Roche and IATA being
covered two years ago in flow’s ‘Moving
swiftly on’.6
Other stakeholders in the SWIFT family
that have built a Sibos presence in recent
years include technology providers and the
fintech, payments and start-up community,
as is illustrated by the fact that Innotribe,
which was launched in 2008, has moved
from being a fringe event at Sibos to a
mainstream agenda one from 2016.
In closing, I ask Pérez-Tasso for his thoughts
about Sibos 2020 given the Covid-19
adjustments. “The 2020 event is available
to the full SWIFT community and the focus
will be on driving conversations on key
issues and emerging industry topics (which
include security in the age of Covid-19, the
latest on cross-border payments, diversity
in investments, digital currencies and
tokenised assets, to name just a few topics).
This year offers a chance for those who
are often tied up in meetings at Sibos to
join in the content-rich programme, keep
up to date, and maintain dialogue and
connections,” he explains.7
With a continued determination to turn
adversity into an opportunity, he adds:
“Sibos will be available to even more
people within the SWIFT community, as
it’s digital, free of charge and no travel is
required. With the disruption caused by
Covid-19, it’s more important than ever for
SWIFT to bring the community together
this year.”