More than 400 delegates and exhibitors from the Arab region are taking part in Sibos 2017, an international financial summit organised by SWIFT, a global provider of secure financial messaging services.

The event is being held in Toronto, Canada from 16-19 October.

Over 8,000 banks, financial and securities institutions, regulators, corporate customers and service providers meet at Sibos every year to discuss the key issues shaping the global financial industry.

Under the theme of ‘Building for the Future’, the 2017 conference programme will look at major industry trends including cybersecurity, financial crime compliance, artificial intelligence (AI), the impact of geopolitical and regulatory shifts, and data and identity.

Sido Bestani, SWIFT’s head of Middle East, Turkey and Africa, said: “For nearly 40 years, Sibos has brought together decision makers, business leaders and financial experts to network, collaborate and make sense of changes in the industry. This year, delegates from the Middle East will engage with regional and global experts in Toronto.”

Over 400 delegates and exhibitors from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon have registered.

Khaled Moharem, head of Mena at SWIFT, said: “The Middle East hosted Sibos in 2013 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Since then, regional support for Sibos has grown year on year. Middle Eastern banks want to be part of the global conversation about the future of the industry, its challenges and opportunities, since they are at the forefront of adopting the latest technology to increase efficiencies and better serve their customers.”

The 2017 programme will be structured around four main streams: banking, compliance, securities and technology. The banking stream will cover the future of payments and the challenges facing correspondent banking.

There will also be sessions exploring new collaboration models for banks and corporates, with increased demand from treasurers for speed, transparency and traceability in cross-border payments and a renewed push on digitisation in the trade finance sector. The compliance stream will look at developments in financial crime compliance and how banks are responding. The securities stream will examine how regulatory changes are shaping market infrastructures, and how the market players are responding.

Finally, the technology stream will consider the profound impact that breakthrough technologies are having on financial services, and how they can deliver value to customers as well as address the challenges of cybersecurity. Other themes like AI, blockchain and fintech ventures will be tackled. – TradeArabia News Service