Sibos has become a key fixture in the financial technology calendar, providing a forum for banking and securities executives to articulate their vision for the future of financial payments and messaging. As the conference has grown in significance so too has the associated exhibition, which regularly attracts up to 200 technology vendors. For one week each year, Sibos offers vendors an unrivalled opportunity to promote their brands and products to as many as 2000 senior financiers and operations executives gathered in one location.
The importance attached to Sibos by the vendor community is evident in the marketing budgets allocated to the show. These can range from £35,000 at the bottom end, to upwards of £250k for top-tier exhibitors. For a small company intent on expanding its visibility, the total Sibos spend can easily command the lion’s share of an annual marketing budget.
While few dispute the decision to abandon Sibos, the timing of the announcement – and Swift’s prevarications in the preceding period – have angered many. The eleventh-hour retreat by Swift followed a panicky two-week campaign to shore up support for the show in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York. One unconfirmed report from a Finextra Review source has Swift CEO Lenny Schrank provisionally booking a private charter as a contingency against the collapse of Sabena, the troubled Belgian carrier on which Swift staffers were flying to Singapore.
By Friday 5 October - the last possible date for delegate and exhibitor drop-outs - Swift was reporting a mere five per cent differential in advance bookings over previous years. However, delegate turnover was way above normal levels. Those with their ears to the ground picked up on a worrying underlying trend: senior European and US bankers were staying at home and despatching junior and regional staff in their stead.
Why Swift decided to press ahead at this point is a mystery. The US-led bombardment of Afghanistan has raised tensions, but the security concerns cited by Swift for its sudden reversal of policy were no less prevalent in the preceding period. Sibos could have, and should have, been called off weeks earlier, giving participants an opportunity to salvage something from the proceedings. By taking everyone up to the wire - and beyond - Swift ensured that maximum financial damage was incurred.
By this time, many of the exhibition stands, purpose-built for Sibos in Singapore, had been shipped and erected. One fast-growing banking systems vendor has estimated its losses over the weekend of 5-8 October at £50,000 as it gave the go-ahead for a raft of Sibos-specific spending, from flight and hotel bookings to printing and shipment of marketing collateral.
Enraged exhibitors are calling on Swift to put together a generous refund package. The Review spoke to one vendor with a £40,000 black hole in its marketing budget. “Swift always gives a rebate each year to users of the network,” he says. “It’s such a large, rich organisation, I think they should be protecting their software companies and saying ‘OK even if we shave a few pennies off the rebate let’s refund the exhibitors'.”
He goes on to describe the company’s losses at Sibos as “a mortal blow – a real tough one to swallow.”
Swift has so far promised to refund conference registration and pay hotel cancellation fees for all delegates, but has drawn the line at covering other expenses. The Society says the refund policy for exhibitors is being finalised.
This commentary was first posted exclusively to subscribers to Finextra's weekly e-mail news review. To register for free daily news headlines and weekly news analysis go to: Finextra e-newsletter