With an audience of about 7,500 world-wide senior bankers, partners and thought leaders, SIBOS 2014 in Boston is proving to be an excellent “pulse-check” on the hot topics preoccupying industry leaders.

Amongst the key stand-out themes and insights to emerge so far are:

• Innovation & Change – how global banks are rapidly seeking to harness new technology, innovate and stay ahead of the competitive curve in terms of internal processes, big data & analytics, cloud based solutions and resulting enhanced customer propositions.

• New Players – how banks are seeking (and in some cases struggling) to respond intelligently and proactively to the increasing profusion of new players in the market-place and identify the critical criteria for determining whether to compete or partner.

• Collaboration – how Banks are increasingly recognising that their future survival and strength will depend upon a more collaborative, partnership way of working in order to:
  • rapidly embrace innovation and change
  • break down internal silos inhibiting more integrated customer propositions and …
  • take full competitive advantage of the growing number of agile, smart providers active in the market
• Regulation – how to be best-placed to respond positively to impending new regulation and reporting requirements from Central Banks and regulatory authorities that necessitate a much greater consolidation and transparency of data than has typically been the industry norm.

From this regulatory perspective, Basel III (and associated BCBS 248) come across as definite and impending game-changers. However there is a significant and somewhat alarming gap emerging between a relative few smarter organisations and a more numerous bulk of other Banks. The former have seized the initiative and are already proactively addressing the regulatory agenda, seeing it as a source of positive opportunity for enhancing customer propositions. The latter group in most part remain worryingly reactive and unprepared on the regulatory front seemingly not having in place the people, processes and systems that enable an adaptive business model for the changes ahead.

In the area of intraday liquidity, The SEPA Consultancy Ltd continues to strongly advocate the need for Banks to develop a more focused approach to understanding, analysing and ultimately reporting on their critical intra-day liquidity flows and potential risk exposure. Using our intraday liquidity simulator as a core modelling tool, we are actively helping client Banks to not only ensure that they are in a state of regulatory readiness but more significantly to turn this regulatory necessity into a positive opportunity to provide added value services to their corporate customers in meeting their liquidity and working capital challenges.

As a moment in time experience, SIBOS 2014 reinforces that these are undoubtedly challenging times of unprecedented flux and change for the industry; however SIBOS 2014 also confirms that forward thinking Banks working in close collaboration with their partners can turn these significant challenges into clear opportunities for enhanced profitable business with their customers.