This is a follow-up of my previous post entitled "Hot topics at the 2018 Sibos Standards Forum in Sydney, Australia".

Sydney will once again be the home of Sibos from 22 till 25 October 2018. In today's post I will focus on the two most important topics of the 2018 Sibos Standards Forum: the ISO 20022 migration and API standardisation .

ISO 20022 migration

In September 2017, prompted by the widespread adoption of ISO 20022 by market infrastructures, SWIFT launched a study into the use of ISO 20022 for cross-border business on the SWIFT network. Following industry consultation, the SWIFT Board recently recommended a migration of cross-border payments to ISO 20022 starting in November 2021.

The Standards Forum programme includes a session dealing with ISO 20022 migration and whether it will be a marathon or a sprint, how the adoption of global market practice for payments will pave the road to a successful global migration to ISO 20022 and another one about FIN-to-ISO 20022 syntax translation. For those seeking to learn more, there will be a briefing on ISO 20022 for beginners.

API standardisation

APIs are evolving quickly as a common way for financial institutions to interact with one another and their customers. It is only fitting that APIs feature prominently at this year's Sibos Standards Forum. For background, have a look at the potential use of ISO 20022 in the context of APIs and JSON syntax and the related ISO 20022 White Paper.

Some of the most compelling sessions on the programme will be about the importance of standards for APIs and the potential of existing ISO 20022 business standard in this respect. For example, we will debate how standards can accelerate the adoption of APIs without compromising safety and interoperability. SWIFT CEO Gottfried Leibbrandt recently talked about the scope for APIs in banking in an interview with The Banker. For the relative newcomer, there will be briefings on APIs for beginners and on how to build your own API from standard components and resources.

I invite you to have a look at the 2018 Sibos Standards Forum programme for details about the various sessions. For those who will not be able to attend in person, keep an eye on Sibos.com, the different news sources available and social media that will broadcast directly from Sibos.

Have a great Sibos Standards Forum!