The Standards Forum celebrated its 10th birthday in style including a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” led by Andrew Muir, who looked like he was enjoying just a bit too much!  The Standards team also used the event to formally launch the iPad app, called the “ISO 20022 adoption mApp”, or as I like to call it, an App called Mapp.  Download it now from the App Store. The app contains everything you ever wanted to [but were afraid to ask] about 60+ 20022 related initiatives dotted around the world.

Record crowds crammed into the stand to listen to Patrick Murck, General Counsel of Bitcoin. Turns out you need $450m to buy a computer with enough horsepower to influence the value of bitcoin. Where do I sign? 

Tim Lind [aka Ladies Man] moderated the MI panel in his usual inimitable style. Very interesting debate about the level of harmonization across market infrastructures. The audience prodded gently in an attempt to extract a view from the panel regarding the introduction of 20022 for securities settlement in the US.  Come on DTCC, you know it makes sense! 

Professor Milne, an actual real professor, provided an update on his research. His 53 page paper is now available for download on the SWIFT Institute website. Much of this discussion related to the need for better semantics in our industry. This has been a constant theme across many of the debates on the Standards Forum this year. 

Swing by the stand today and add your wishes to the Happy Birthday wall. Mine is attached below.

Quotes of the day

“Being Head of SWIFT is fun, but being Head of Standards was much more fun”

“The road to success is always under construction” [Ed: you must be staying at the JW Marriott too]

“[with 20022] We need to walk before we can run”

“It is just a matter of time before ISO 20022 will prevail”

“We need a central place to discuss standards. SWIFT is the natural choice” [Ed: where have you been for the last 10 years?]

“Bitcoin is anti-fragile. The more you attack it the stronger it gets”

“Standards are becoming a Board room issue”

“Coexistence is the enemy of standards” [Ed: Maybe, but it’s here, it’s real, and we just have to deal with it]

“Doing nothing is not an option [for the US payments infrastructure]”