The opening sequence of the closing session at the Sibos conference in Toronto saw Godfried Lieberman and Stephan Zimmerman, from the SWIFT executive and board respectively, talking about the three key takeaways from Sibos Toronto. These were emerging markets, regulation and the future of banking.
 

The best quotation from the conference on emerging markets was undoubtedly: ”Money is moving East, Follow the Money.” On regulation, it was definitely the comment that “Regulators cannot manage banks”. And on the future of banking, the reminder that “banking is about information and technology will have a profound change.”
 

From a SWIFT perspective, these three key takeaways mean that SWIFT has to extend its reach into the new world and must help connect their market infrastructures. In the regulatory world, they must help standardise a world of new information flows. And, they have to help the change we are seeing in banking by acting as the catalyst for new thinking, epitomised by the success and energy of the “Innotribe” concept. And, as Stephan Zimmerman said: “the new normal is about living with overcapacity; it is about a shift East”.
 

Brett King, author and founder of Movenbank, was the key note speaker. His focus was on the changes occurring, especially in the retail sector. He complained that bank behaviour is entrenched whilst client behaviour is changing. The cheque is still with us after 2000 years; it has long left behind its sell by date. Branches were invented several hundred years ago; do we still need them in their current configuration? And communication is more about YouTube and mobiles than the traditional methods of the banks. After all, as he reminded us, the largest payment organisation by number of customers is PayPal.
 

It was Lazaro Campos, CEO of SWIFT, who brought the final session to a close. The innovative thinking of the different participants in Innotribe was celebrated once again and the winners were announced. Campos celebrated a Sibos with approximately 7,500 attendees. He felt this was a Sibos about “realism”. Not about optimism, not about pessimism, but about real issues and real challenges.

He stressed that information is king, and reminded all that one speaker had defined it as the “oil of the 21^st century”. He talked of “new voices”. This was again a reference to the need to focus on the emerging markets; for the economic power of the old world is moving east to Asia and more southerly to Latin America. And Africa is starting to show opportunity with its above average growth rates after many years of disappointment.
 

“Realism” and “Voices” were two words that Campos felt reflected the spirit of Sibos Toronto. His final word was one that typifies also the spirit of SWIFT: “collaboration”. That means on standards, payment and other platforms, business information and much else.

As we left Toronto and heard that October 2012 would see us in Osaka, we wondered how change would affect us. For we all knew, and Sibos had reminded us of it again, that the world is changing fast, that banking faces challenges but that also there is energy and enthusiasm there that can enable the change that will allow us to survive and prosper.