Next week, thousands of delegates from the world of payments, trade, regulation and finance will gather for Sibos at Messe in Frankfurt.
This year’s overarching theme “The Next Frontiers of Global Finance” will explore how finance is being reshaped by technological change, regulatory shifts, and new demands for resilience and interoperability. Sessions will cover the digital evolution in payments and securities, financial access and inclusion, compliance and tech innovation from AI to DLT – as well as the role of ESG in financial systems.
The week will kick off with insights from two of Germany’s most prominent financial leaders Joachim Nagel, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank and Christian Sewing, CEO of Deutsche Bank, and close with Jürgen Klopp, Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull. Swift’s Javier Pérez-Tasso and Graeme Munro will also share their outlooks on the future direction of global finance.
“Themes in relation to the interconnection of digital ecosystems with our current legacy robust infrastructures will be worth attending,” says Frantz Teissedre, Head of Public Affairs, GTPS, Societe Generale. “As regards new technologies, AI deployment and quantum computing will be in the limelight. For cross-border payments, so-called “one leg out” schemes which leverage 24/7 local instant payment systems to accelerate cross-border payments as well as with Real Time Gross Settlement Systems (RTGS) operating hours extension, will also attract attention.”
For others, ISO 20022 migration and adoption will be front of mind. Toine van Beusekom, Strategy Director at Icon Solutions with over 20 years’ experience in the payments industry is a Sibos regular. He hopes this year’s event will shed light on the extent to which the industry is leveraging the messaging system.
“For banks, ISO 20022 was a great vehicle to obtain budget for modernisation. But with that regulatory change agenda coming to an end, we can start to see who has addressed ISO 20022 well both strategically and holistically, and who is simply using ISO 20022 mappers gaffer-taped around the edges. From our view, not many are leveraging ISO 20022 to its promised potential. Banks who have viewed ISO 20022 strictly as a compliance exercise will struggle when volumes ramp up. On the other hand, those actioning a long-term vision for ISO 20022 as an enabler will be significantly better positioned to tackle the challenges of the G20 requirements, for example, by being part of the BIS Nexus programme.”
Van Beusekom believes it’s important that ISO 20022 is a conference theme this year.
“It’s a wake-up call and a chance for honest reflection: have the requirements been addressed through true modernisation, or have legacy systems been patched up again? It’s a bit like the Warren Buffett analogy about “when the tide goes out…” With ISO 20022 volumes ramping up you could say it’s a case of “when the tide comes in” we will see which banks can swim.”
Elsewhere, others will seek conference insights on how to navigate shifting geopolitical dynamics.
Mansour Davarian, Lloyds’ Head of Transaction Banking Solutions, recently flagged five strategies treasurers are using to build resilience and unlock growth in 2025’s unpredictable climate. He listed building supply chain resilience amidst trade disruption and extreme weather, sharpening FX strategies to protect margins in a volatile global economy; leveraging automation to unlock efficiency and future-proof operations, financing smarter, from inventory stockpiling to supplier stability and mapping exposure to geopolitical and climate risks for smarter decision-making.
A deep dive on fintech innovation is another conference staple.
Global payments group Bottomline’s Vitus Rotzer, Head of Financial Messaging, will be attending Sibos. The company is developing a so-called Universal Aggregator, a unified API-enabled SaaS platform which equips banks with advanced compliance tools necessary for navigating the shifting regulatory landscape underscored by the complexities associated with SEPA Inst and ISO 20022.
Bottomline will also launch its annual report ‘The Future of Competitive Advantage in Banking & Payments’ at the conference. Now in its fifth year, the peer-based survey explores how executives and their companies are meeting customer expectations and progressing towards achieving their digital payments transformation strategy.
Following Frankfurt (2025), Miami (2026), and Singapore (2027), Paris will host Sibos in 2028 – the 50th anniversary of the global conference. Dubai will follow in 2029, as the first host of a new rotation that will take Sibos to growing economies in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America every four years to reinforce global financial inclusivity of its infrastructure that serves more than 11,500 institutions in over 200 countries and territories.
“Swift is a convener of and for the global financial industry and as the breadth of our network continues to grow, we’re delighted to be able to expand Sibos to more locations around the world. No other event brings the industry together on the same scale as Sibos, and the addition of even more perspectives to the event’s debates and discussions will be increasingly valuable as the industry navigates rapid technological change and the growing risk of fragmentation,” said Rosemary Stone, Chief Corporate Officer at Swift.
Treasury Today Group’s CEO Sophie Jackson and Meg Coates, Publisher & Operations Director will both be at Sibos. Please reach out to them Sophie.jackson@treasurytoday.com and meg.coates@treasurytoday.com
Our special annual print edition will also be available at Sibos.
