Sibos over for another year

So Sibos is over for another year.  There were many recurring themes discussed such as consolidation, public policy and access to market infrastructures.  T2S was a topic of hot debate, particularly when the ECB announced further delays to its implementation.  Diana Chan, CEO, EuroCCP gave a new slant on T2S which is that we should not be focused on cost savings as a result of the regulation, but that the interesting theme is what new services CSDs will create as a result of the regulation.  Marianne Brown, President & CEO, Omgeo drove home the message that the relevance of trade affirmation is at an all time high.  Confirming the economic details of a trade is in fact paramount to mitigating counterparty, operational and credit risk.

And on to matters of a slightly more frivolous nature, the most popular giveaways on the Sibos exhibition floor were the soft toy horses being given away by Wells Fargo and the Russian dolls from the National Settlement Depository.  Note to self for next year, don’t leave gift surfing to the penultimate day, you will likely leave empty handed.  

A big thank you to all of my peers, clients and friends with whom I spent  time with at Sibos, having interesting and stimulating debates about market structure issues during daylight and night time hours. 

Next week I’ll delve down into some of the themes I found most interesting at Sibos 2011.

M.R.