It is that time of year again…summer holidays are over, children return to school, and the financial industry returns to Sibos.
The SWIFT Institute is launching the first-ever Sibos University, a programme that features leading academics giving 30-minute lectures on a wide range of topics impacting the global financial industry. You will get the chance to listen and meet academics from Harvard, MIT, Bentley, University of California San Diego, George Mason University, University of Delaware, University of Toronto, Western University, University of Tilburg, University of New South Wales, Coventry Law School, Manchester Business School and the London School of Economics & Political Science. Topics covered will include data privacy, market infrastructures and virtual currencies, cybercrime, the cloud, investor behaviour and fund management, mobile money, productivity, women in finance, standards and financial inclusion, as well as a panel session on regulation.
Sibos University begins at 9:15am on Monday 29th September in Conference Room 3. Lectures and the regulatory panel session will run throughout the day. It continues on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at lunchtime each day with spotlight lectures on women in finance, standards and financial inclusion respectively. The daily spotlight lectures take place on the Sibos TV studio.
All Sibos delegates are invited to attend this new programme. You are also invited to the Sibos University champagne reception on Monday 29th September at 5:30pm in the convention center’s exclusive VIP Bridge Club where you can meet and mingle with the academics.
The SWIFT Institute is also proud to be part of Change Day, which takes place on Thursday 2nd October. The financial sector has undergone significant changes in recent years: uncertain market conditions, regulatory obligations, fast-evolving technology, and global shifts in economic power. Sibos will look at change from several perspectives, including insightful contributions from non-financial sectors.
The diversity theme continues with a panel session discussing Women in Finance, which includes Sibos University speakers. This is followed by a big issue debate on Financial Inclusion: Big Banks & Small Savers. This panel session will see the banks involved in the Gateway to Financial Innovations for Savings (GAFIS) project discuss their findings. This four year project, sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed at gaining a better understanding of the factors that encourage / inhibit poor savers, and the factors that affect institutional capacity to serve them. The ultimate aim is to find a sustainable business model for banks to provide offerings to the financial excluded.
Finally, Sibos will close with the thoughts of Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates will provide his insights on the foundation’s work to bring financial services to the poor, and highlight how digital financial services and partnerships can provide opportunities for financial institutions to sustainably serve people in the developing world.
Key Sessions Not to Miss
- Monday 29 September 09:15 – 17:30 Sibos University lecture series (see agenda for topics and times of each session) – Conference Room 3
- Monday 29 September 17:30 – 19:00 Sibos University Champagne Reception – The Bridge Club, Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
- Tuesday 30 September 12:30 – 13:00 Sibos University Spotlight: Women in Finance: Myths Versus Research Truths – SibosTV studio
- Wednesday 1 October 12:30 – 13:00 Sibos University Spotlight: Standards in a Global World: Learning from the Shipping Container – SibosTV studio
- Thursday 2 October 09:30 – 10:30 Women in Finance: A Global Perspective – Conference Room 4
- Thursday 2 October 11:00 – 12:15 Big Issue Debate – Financial Inclusion: Big Banks & Small Savers – Plenary Room
- Thursday 2 October 12:30 – 13:00 Sibos University Spotlight: What is financial inclusion and why should we care? – SibosTV studio
- Thursday 2 October 16:00 – 17:00 Sibos Closing Plenary featuring Bill Gates – Plenary Room
Register for Sibos here.
See the full Sibos conference programme here.
