Delegates at Sibos were diligently nursing their hangovers towards the end of the four-day long conference where representatives from financial institutions, corporates and technology partners get together on a yearly basis to discuss financial topics and share best practices.
Hosting this year’s Sibos in Osaka is a true testament that Asia is next best place to be. Greater Osaka or the Kansai economic region (including Kyoto, Kobe and Nara) is an economic powerhouse with factories turning out electronics and high-tech products and with Japan being one of the earliest Asian countries to industrialise is a sign that multinational corporates (MNCs) that haven’t established their footprint in Asia should do it soon as other countries emerge as economic powerhouses too.
Given how jam-packed Sibos’ scheduling is – running at least two panel sessions of different topics consecutively – delegates had to learn how to manage their time efficiently and ensure they were not double-booked. But no matter how organised one is, the fact that the conference centre is large enough to fit at least three football fields doesn’t help with time management.
Kicking off this year’s Corporate Forum was Marcus Treacher, global head of e-commerce at HSBC who noted global trade will grow four times from US$32 trillion in 2011 to US$120 trillion by 2020 and that Asia is estimated to represent 35% of global trade by 2020 from 20% in 2011.
This clearly demonstrates that now is a good time for corporates to start maximising business opportunities in Asia and ride the next wave of trade evolution.
The future of the renminbi was another of the hot topics with fierce debates about what the currency’s internationalisation really means. However, despite all this talk about the rise of the renminbi, no Chinese banks were present at the conference – unsurprising given the ongoing bickering between two of the world’s largest economies over islands – but not exactly helping make the case for China’s rising influence.
While corporates were generally upbeat at Sibos this year, the same could not be said for the banks. Financial institutions were scurrying around looking for quick solutions to meet upcoming regulatory deadlines, some of which they believe are not realistic, particularly most of the Dodd-Frank Act which comes into force next year.
To help, Sibos put on the Compliance Forum – a brand new, two-day dedicated programme that reflects the growing impact of regulatory requirements on financial institutions. Unfortunately convincing the US government to do a u-turn was not on the agenda.
Despite being in a relatively sober environment, delegates still managed to find some downtime between meetings.
During the day, delegates spent their time carefully perusing swanky-looking exhibition booths in search for freebies. Others opted for the complimentary massages that were available at Deutsche Bank’s booth or rested at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.’s (SMBC) Japanese tea ceremony pavilion whilst appreciating the art of making matcha (powdered green tea).
By night, the string of invitations to cocktail receptions was endless. DJs, free-flow alcohol, dance floors, karaoke boxes, you name it, they’ve got it. One wonders how much is splurged on such an extravagant occasion and whether it is worth it at times like these when banks are making drastic cost cutting elsewhere.
Come fourth day of the conference, delegates were a little worse for wear and trying to catch some additional shut eye, be it on route to the conference from the hotel, or during panel sessions.
Nonetheless, an occasion where white-collar professionals come together is rare and whether or not delegates managed to find answers to their questions they will reassemble again in Dubai for Sibos 2013, possibly burdened by another round of regulatory changes and in search for more solutions and cocktails.