Good morning from Stockholm. Today Finextra is live blogging from Swift's Nordics Regional Conference in Sweden.

The Twitter hashtag for the two day event is #NORC2013

Editor's note: all times reflect Stockholm time.

The full Swift agenda can be found here.

16:05 That's it folks. Goodbye from Sweden. Wrap up warm!

15:55 Q: What are the key takeaways? A: Poutiainen: This being a Nordics conference, I don't know if I should talk about Sepa or the euro. But Sepa is important for all of Europe. Everyone should position itself 'What can we build on that platform?' even it's a low value commercial platform. A: Fors: How do we adjust to the new CSD environment? The four Nordics countries are going to see a new generation of CSD structure. We cannot, as market participants, cannot just let the CSDs run lose and do what they want. We need to eliminate faxes from the funds space. And we need to create a collateral utility in that space.

15:52 Q from the audience: How secure is the Swift data? In regards to NSA issues and government intrusions? A: Aggarwal: The official line is that Swift has no confirmation that Swift data has been compromised by the NSA and that is it, I have to stop there. Swift does pride itself on security and resiliency. An awful lot of our budget goes to that.

15:50 Aggarwal: Are the Nordics at risk of losing their relevance in the European economy? A: Fors: The Nordics are very strong on a political and banking position in Europe.

15:49 Fors: The extra-territorial aspect of regulation is really tough. Aggarwal: Yes, FACTA is an example of that. But there are also some European regulations which are extra-territorial.

15:40 Aggarwal: What are the two or three things, concerning regulations and compliance that you must take note of? A: Poutiainen: Being neutral is not an option. You need to have a position, what is the impact on my business area? This conference really brought home the impact regs and compliance have on the transaction bank. Q: What is specific to GTB that people may not be aware of? A: Poutiainen: The impact of Basel III, especially the smaller transaction bank - we are on the end of the transaction. This will increase costs, increased costs will increase our pricing. A: Fors: Regulations are supposed to make things simpler and more transparent, but they seem to be making things more complex and less transparent. However, a few years ago we were just 'seeing' the regulation tsunami, but now we are all in it and working. It will be interesting to see where we are next year. Probably the most stupid thing I have heard in the past few years is the Financial Transaction Tax. "It will be a bloody nightmare."

15:33 Anders Pettersson, from ecpat, the charity that this conference is supporting. They work on stopping the trade of children in the sex industry. Pettersson is making the connection with payments methods and fighting this criminal industry. They now have a check for €10k from Swift.

15:30

Closing plenary folks! #NORC2013 pic.twitter.com/mQIxIrJbP2

- Elizabeth Lumley (@LizLum) November 21, 2013

15:30 Closing plenary

An interactive discussion about the main themes and takeaways from the conference.

15:20 Strand: There is a hate/love relationship the banks have with MasterCard/Visa. It is a huge revenue stream for them. Sacuiu: I don't think we should focus on the mobile as such. We should focus on more efficient payments. In the future it could be fingerprint or eye ball or something else. The mobile operator has no chance to control that, that have a role to play now, yes.

15:18 Q: Does anyone in the audience feel that the telcos are a threat to the banks? (only two people - but too soft to hear why - mic?)

15:17 Wellstedt: The information beyond the transaction, is as a bank, we need to be much better than we are today.

15:14 This panel is descending into a 'kill all cards' group hug. Anyone from Visa or MasterCard in the room?

15:05 Wellstedt: SEB do see the demand from customers for mobile solutions.

15:01 Q: So you want to bypass the card? A: Desportes: Having a cloud wallet that is setting the transaction is not a problem and is efficient. A: Sacuiu: Card payments are secure enough, but that is because they handle the transfer of data. If you eliminate the need to transfer the data, you eliminate the security risk. A: Desportes: The card networks have put together a security framework that is trusted by the merchants.

14:58 Desportes: A lot of focus has been put on NFC for years. But NFC allows us to bypass telcos. Telcos are out of the game. Face to face interactions have not changed. Pulling out your card or mobile is not so different. However, the mPOS is a big change in this market. This does two things, 1. provide small merchants with solutions and 2. allow medium merchants to provide new services.

14:54 Sacuiu: If you are not getting into the payments chain with a simpler and more efficient offering, then you have nothing to offer. As bank, there is a trust that is instilled in you as an institution. Banks hold the account.

14:42 Marc-Henri Desportes: You cannot say the mobile phone is just a form factor and doesn't matter. The smart phone has changed the way customers behave. The new players are not cheap. Customers are willing to pay. Apple/iTunes is not cheap, PayPal is not cheap. Are banks ready for these changes? The Starbucks prepaid wallet is successful because of the smartphone. Five years ago, it would not have been as successful.

14:38 Sacuiu: The merchant will not sell more because a consumer is waving a mobile phone instead of a card.

14:36 A: Sacuiu: We don't want to kill anyone, we want to make the world a better place. The problem isn't that there are fat cats but that there are a lot of cats to feed.

14:35 Q: So now you are telling me that the bank value chain is not that efficient? Which one of the 'fat cats' in the chain would you kill? And don't say MasterCard or Visa?

14:30 Bogdan Sacuiu: When telcos lost control of the business model was in 2006 with the iPhone where the power shifted from the operator to the customer. The same thing is happening to the banks. Banks are not always cost efficient. Many times the cost of the transaction is greater for the bank than is charged towards the merchant. But the costs are kept down for the merchant. The costs of a transaction for a merchant is determined by the number of players involved in that transaction - hardware, payments processing, achieved, issuers. If you can eliminate two or three out of that equation - you can become more efficient. The mobile allows the value chain to be simpler and more efficient.

14:24 Q: What role do the telecos play? A: Per-Erik Wellstedt The banks have been dinosaurs. We have been losing market share to alternative players who do payments easier and more efficient for the customers. I welcome the competition. Banks need to innovate. There are still a lot of things banks need to focus on in terms of compliance, there isn't a lot of room to innovate.

14:10 John Strand: Telcos have a much greater market share than banks. There are many who believe the mobile operators have the solution to mobile payments. However, that won't happen, 'You will be beaten by the banks'. Why? It's simple. Your salary goes into one account - that account is owned by the bank. No one will say 'Put my salary in my mobile account.' The mobile account will always be a supplementary account. Banks can give me a card that I can use in any retailer, any country, independent of the bank the retailer is using. The mobile operators cannot do that. Not even on a national level. The bank value chain is very cost efficient. The operators cannot do it cheaper than the banks. But can they do it smarter? The only thing the telecos can say is 'I can give you access to lots of customers.' Banks problem is not how to get customers, but to get the right customers. Banks know more about their customers than the operators. Telcos can not do it cheaper or smarter. Why did I tell this story? But we need to ask: Why aren't banks moving faster in digital? Why role do telecos play?

14:00

Can banks compete in the digital world? (Don't all yell at once!) panel at #NORC2013 pic.twitter.com/6q7DYQCMJk

- Elizabeth Lumley (@LizLum) November 21, 2013

14:00-15:15 Payments stream

Can banks really compete in a digital world?

12:40 Time for lunch. We'll be back at 14:00 Stockholm time.

12:30 Q: Where will your business be in five years time? A: Boniver: Order flows will not be fax, but automated with ISO 20022 messages. A: Crepaz: I hope that the CSDs play a role in the funds business and the trans-national funds business and not just because of regulatory pressure. Funds need to be on a T2S platform. A: Glyn: We have not had the period of growth in the Nordics we should expect. We haven't had the growth or the consolidation. In the funds business the purest form of alpha is cost control.

12:30 Q: In five years time will there still be borders in regards to funds in Nordics? A: Crepaz: I hope not. We in the funds industry has to work to get the marginal costs down and work towards harmonisation.

12:25 Q from audience: Why do we still allow faxes? A: Blomqvist: It's the business case. There are not a huge volume of trades. It costs too much to implement a non-fax system. A: Crepaz: Some businesses only have two trades a year. There is a business case not to automate that, not to implement ISO 20022. A: Boniver: The investment funds business is too small at some firms. They could use Swift, but the business case is not there. These businesses have automated fax systems. They push a button and a fax is sent. They believe they are automated, because they have automated the fax. When you talk to them about Swift they say 'Swift is for the big players, not us.' But Swift is not a club for big banks.

12:21 Q: How do we cope with the regulatory pressure and the related costs? Charles-Raymond Boniver: We fall in the same trap of the 'business case'and prioritisation. We should move towards standards and automation.

12:19 Glyn: If Denmark treats Funds like equities, where they are traded on an exchange. If Denmark is moving towards the European model, isn't that a move towards inefficiency and higher prices? Crepaz: Yes, but we in Denmark need to realise there is a world outside of Denmark.

12:15 Glyn asking the audience: Hands up if you do not own a fund? (one hand) Who knows what you are paying for your funds? (one hand) So we have a room full of the Nordic elite, where everyone has a fund, but no one knows how much they are paying for it or should they care. We have a stable network, we have ISO 20022, we've got the industry to get together to agree on market practice...

12:13 Q: What is the business case? Blomqvist: We now focus more on where Nordea will add value.

12:06 Daniel Blomqvist: We've only started delivering funds via Swift. Our STP rates could be better. Bjørn Stendorph Crepaz: There is regulatory pressure. The fund managers need to alter the systems and change the processes. We have launched a connectivity platform to link the agents where we automatically issue the funds on the CSD whenever the order comes in. Edward Glyn: The face of our industry is changing, I've never seen this level of change.

12:03

Investmnet funds-Where are we at #NORC2013 pic.twitter.com/ysuYaNA5jZ

- Elizabeth Lumley (@LizLum) November 21, 2013

12:02

Investment Funds - where are we at?

12:00 Fors: I'm afraid we haven't solved these problems in 45 minutes!

11:54 Q We want to create a one CCP, CSD structure in Europe - why don't we have Europe saying there is one structure? A: Chan: Competition is good, competition breeds innovation. Q: But we are told that the everything is cheaper in the US system? A: Weber: It is a much broader issue than just the infrastructure. The market is fragmented from a tax standpoint. Even though we would like one CSD, we have not be able to do it. A: Sjoberg: If you are saying that the US has one CCP that is incorrect. They have one CCP for each asset class.

11:52 Sjoberg: I think there will be a reduction in costs by moving towards T+2. I think there is a lot of discussions about different types of file transfers and such like that. But the benefits will not come in the existing structures.

11:43 Q from audience: Is T+0 or T-0 a goal we should aim for? Wouldn't that cause liquidity problems? A: Leinonen: If we had T+0 you would only have to look at the portfolio. The liquidity wouldn't go anywhere. You can get the money and use the money immediately. You can short sell or buy, you can only buy/sell what you have. Right now, we buy/sell what we don't own. A: Weber: The common religion, Harry and I have, is unrealistic. T+0 will not happen in a big bank or tomorrow. But I do not like the conversation around T+2. T+2 will not save anyone money.

11:40 Revenman: I don't think that the Nordic CSDs are inefficient. The issues is that they are different from the rest of Europe and the world. We need to discuss how to organise the CSDs in the region so they can work with non-Nordic CSDs. We should take away the shareholder connection.

11:31 Will there be more CSDs in the future? A: Reveman: T2S is the most important thing happening in the post trade area in Europe - but that just proves how conservative this area is. We should be at T+0, T+sub0. We should have this sorted before the trade. The cost of settling a trade is Europe is way higher than settling in the US. That is a huge problem. The Nordic problem is that we have direct home links to our CSDs. That has been a problem when the Nordics have decided, or not decided to go towards T2S. T2S is happening because the ECB took the initiative. The Nordics need to get their acts together and go in the same direction.

11:21 Q: Do we have the infrastructure to support T2S and T+2? A: Diana Chan: There is more room for the market to structurally reduce the cost. A: Leinonen: Post trade is just transportation, from the seller to the buyer and cash back to the seller. In all the other transportation businesses you try to travel as quickly as possible. DHL does T+1. Why are we content with T+2?

11:19

Securties session starts now #NORC2013 pic.twitter.com/SKwbV2tbAI

- Elizabeth Lumley (@LizLum) November 21, 2013

11:00-12:30 Securties Session

Post-trade under pressure

10:43 Time for coffee

10:36 Q from audience: What about the securities law situation and lack of progress in this area? A: Cassens: When it comes to jurisdictions, with different securities laws and different insolvency laws. When collateral is moved, one of the challenges to make sure that at every stage of the chain that has access to collateral. There is a conflict with laws and regulatory directives within certain European countries.

10:32 Q: Will SEB, or other bank, have a centralised collateral management system in place in three years? A: Caracciolo: We are working ahead towards a centralised solution. A: Bolme: If you don't do this, you will have a huge competitive problem.

10:31 Bolme: I don't expect the FX players to engage in collateral swaps, not in my lifetime.

10:25 Q: Will the economics of providing a collateral management infrastructure ever make sense? A: Kjeldsen: The CSDs will own this 'hypothetical' collateral utility. <==What role will the custodial banks and Swift play? Panel is not being clear.

10:19 Q: Should there be a T2S for collateral management? A: Kjeldsen: T2S makes it possible to have a single pool of collateral. From an infrastructure point of view, there will be a very strong infrastructure for collateral in Europe. But do we need something here in the Nordics region? A: Arun Aggarwal (in audience): At Swift, we have seen a huge increase in using Swift to manage collateral movement. A third party highway for point to point is fine. But when you start to have a dynamic many to many solution, you need a standardised way to move that...thank you for letting me do the Swift sales pitch. A: Caracciolo: Swift, a third party agent, might be part of the puzzle for providing the collateral management highyway, but it is too soon to say.

10:14 Q from audience: Do the Nordics have an efficient collateral management system? Or are we risking operational failures? A: Caracciolo: Currently, the market is very fragmented. For collateral optimisation, you need consolidated markets and critical mass. There are a lot of initiatives, but not everyone will survive. A: Cassens: There are significant concerns around various risks that the market needs to cater for.

10:02 Q: Is the infrastructure in place to handle this change? A: Kjeldsen: We have all been taking in with T2S. We might have a challenge in the Nordic region. We have a pan-region banks, but not a pan-region for handling collateral. A: Caracciolo: It is a huge project. Traditionally, it has been a back office function. But recently it is a business centric, front office issue. A: Cassens: In the future price will be influenced by what collateral is available. that is a huge project to get all that information to the trader in real time. A: Bolme: The price for managing collateral is now priced into derivatives transactions. New derivatives traders that could reduce your need for collateral could be a very different price from what we are used to.

09:53 Q: Is there going to be a collateral shortage or not? A: Cassens: The challenge is not a liquidity squeeze but to optomise how collateral is used. Bolme: I expect, we and a lot of other banks will have to look for other sources of collateral. The collateral is in the market, the questions is whether the banks will get hold of it and what prices? Caracciolo: There is a huge uncertainty in the market due to the regulatory tsunami. There are additional parameters to consider.When you look at the forecasts of the shortfall. it is based on the parameters of today. It will be a huge change in the industry that we just need to manage.

09:30-10:30 Panel: Managing the squeeze - the liquidity and collateral management challenge

09:33 Q from audience on the real time unauthorised trade demo he just did - What impact does this system have on staff moral? Perski: When they're wrong, it is terrible. But this is based on behaviour that is normal for the individual. Usually in a few months, we have the trust of the company and staff. Since the system allows managers to make decisions based on the data, with the individual, it is less disruptive than if a large number of departments needed to get involved in the investigation of an alleged UT situation.

09:24 Perski: In the banking sector most big data issues concern fraud. When working on preventing unauthorised trading most reports are gathered on Excel spreadsheets and compliance team do not have the bandwidth to take in account wider contexts. There are a lot of false positives. KRIs need to be developed based in individual behaviour, not group behaviour.

09:16 Soramaki: Intraday liquidity management was once a qualitative exercise, but banks now have to move to a more quantitative exercise as directed by Basel III.

09:13 Kimmo Soramaki is demo'ing a real time analytics map with 'fake data' because 'real data' is too confidential. But he is simulating stress tests on a group of banks in the same region for things like a reduction in capital and operational failures.

08:56 De Wilde: The next phase of Swift's Financial Crime Compliance Roadmap will be: Business Intelligence for Compliance; FATF 16 Quality ("Not a very sexy name" (<==again with the 'sexy and exciting'); Sanctions List Service, testing AML services and KYC Registry. KYC Registry is expected to go live next year, which is "very quick" for Swift, according to De Wilde.

08:56 Brigitte De Wilde is walking through Swift's Financial Crime Compliance Roadmap. Sanctions Screening and Sanctions Testing.

08:53 Perski: Regulatory authorities are concerned with increasing the amount of 'available data'.<==Isn't all data, technically, available?

08:50 Noam Perski: Talking about that pesky issue of 'Big Data'.

Noam Perski of Palantir talking abt that pesky 'big data' #NORC2013 pic.twitter.com/Btc6WbF3Xr

- Elizabeth Lumley (@LizLum) November 21, 2013

08:40 Good morning from rainy Stockholm. Day 2 of the Swift Nordics Conference is starting soon!

08:45-09:30

Innovation plenary: Harnessing 'big data' for compliance and growth

09:30-10:30 Panel: Managing the squeeze - the liquidity and collateral management challenge

Day 2

17:17 That's a wrap for Day 1 of the Swift Nordics Conference. Come back tomorrow at 8:45 Stockholm time for more discussions on Big Data, digital services, post trade issues, liquidity risk and supply chain services.

17:07 Q from audience: Do you see ANY positive affects of T2S (don't all jump at once, panel!) A: Vainio: Yes, it is a catalyst for efficiency. A: Munck: The great push towards standardisation and harmonisation is the big advantage, the big step forward. But we still have the sovereign states, with their own tax regimes. A: Hellström: Yes, there will be a positive outcome "over time". A: Haugerud: We are all dependent on the issuers and the investors, if it provides a safer trading environment. A: Elotmani: T2S is introducing a level playing field - this should attract more investors and improve the European economy. On a less serious note - it provides a lot of work for us.

17:04 This panel is dominated by the four Cs - Compliance, Competition, Consolidation and COSTS!

16:58 Munck: Our first phase, by 2016, will be to settle only euro when we comply with T2S. In 2018 we will migrate the Danish currency to T2S.

16:52 Q: How do you prepare your community for T2S and the future landscape? A: Vainio: Preparing the market is quite a substantial change. We went for full replacement of the core CSD platform. We went with a third party platform. We will adjust to the standards, not the other way around. We felt it was best to do that before T2S and not after. Reaching the compliance date in 2017 will be done in three phases. First money markets and fixed income, 16 months later is equities and corporate actions, then the third is the final T2S connectivity.

16:45 Munck: Competition is already here. We see banks opening up CSDs and CSD businesses. BNY Mellon is an example. Vainio: With standards, local barriers are removed. Until now we played by the code of conduct rules. But now, bigger players are eating from the same cake with T2S. With the single point of entry, T2S for cross-border, the CSDs will provide more investor services. But banking? I don't know.

16:42 Munck: I don't not like to compare CSDR with Mifid. Mifid was supposed to create a consolidated market. But that has not happened. When we all get 'harmonised' it will be for the CSD part of the business. Hellström: In markets where we have the end investor account model, those people want a domestic model, especially the retail investor. We need to remember the investor in all this.

16:25 Q from audience: Do you expect that competition between CSDs to be temporary or a permanent feature? What impact will that have on sub-custodian banks? A: Munck: Depending on how you amend your infrastructure post T2S, will determine the equilibrium. A: Vainio: In the long run, clearly competition will grow. Some custodians are concerned by small players. We will see exits on all levels. A: Elotmani: I don't think we should forget what the ECB are trying to achieve here. We here in Europe are all on the same currency (not Sweden!) and we are still struggling with cross-border. We can not achieve the Euro system agenda with a fragmented environments. There will be consolidation.

16:07 Moderator: Let's turn to T2S. T2S does not mean 'trying to survive'. Q: Is T2S a threat, opportunity or a cost? A: Vainio: We have to work towards T2S, but there is still a lot of work in progress. It has to be seen as an opportunity, but settlement works well in other markets. We have neglected the asset services side. We need to wait and see with T2S - it is a long term view, there is a lot of faith one has to take into play. T2S has been around since 2006, but now that we have a decision we can start the work. A: Haugerud: We will not earn money on settlement after T2S. (So, do not expect a reduction in the overall bill, but instead, extra services for the same money, then?) A: Nikolaj Hesselholt Munck: In time we *may* see a cost reduction. Vainio: I disagree, when T2S goes live it will have a immediate reduction on prices. It will be very competitive on the settlement side. A: Hellström: I agree we will see a cost reduction. But T2S will usher more structural changes and industry-wide initiatives.There is more to come.

16:05 Q: What is Swift doing in regards to CSDR? A: Charifa Elotmani: In order to reduce settlement failure you need to have proper matching in place. The length of the settlement period is getting shorter, in that case standardisation is key, such as promoting ISO 20022. Swift promotes those standards as well as works with the community to implement those standards. We are also working in improving the CSD to CSD relationships. It is not the same as the relationship between the CSD and third parties.

16:00 Eva Hellström: We are looking at T+2 as an IT project, but we don't see this as a huge IT project. It is more of a process and routine activity. As a user the competitive landscape will be larger and more level.

15:47 Isabelle Olivier: Q: CSDR will have a major impact - is it just another regulation? A: John-Arne Haugerud: There are business opportunities from CSDR. We will be able to offer bank services and grow internationally due to pass porting. A: Hanna Vainio: Although CSDR will allow CSD to be more competitive within T2S, in the sort term it is a cost. There is a lot of local regulation that does need to be kept, but it is a key starting point.

15:45 Securities Stream starting soon.

T2S AND CSDR in the Nordics panel #norc2013 pic.twitter.com/EMwOfxi2zj

- Elizabeth Lumley (@LizLum) November 20, 2013

Art in the Securities Stream at #NORC2013 pic.twitter.com/mzObyS5KbJ

- Elizabeth Lumley (@LizLum) November 20, 2013

Join us after lunch and the break

15:45 - 17:15 Securities stream The evolving Nordic securities landscape and the impact of T2S and CSDR

12:43 Q: How attractive is Swift to corporates in Iceland? A: Howser: How *can* we make sexy enough for the Nordic corporates?

12:32 Howser is joking around about how Swift needs to be more assertive about forcing banks to use standards, such as the new standing settlement instructions. Leibbrandt says the next time he has a bank complain about forced migrations he will direct them to Iceland and Howser.

12:23 Q: Does Swift's shift from 'West to East' concern you? Howser: We are VERY concerned. We are Iceland. We have to wave our hands to say 'we are here' now. Leibbrandt: The shift from West to East is not just happening at Swift, it is happening in our banks. But as much as we would 'like' to move to the East, the West brings us back - it is Sepa it is T2S it is the trade repositories. Growth has been surprisingly even globally. There isn't a huge growth shift, it is more making sure we are aware of the changes and opportunities in the East. Hansen: We need to look at the drivers for the real economy, what is driving from West to East. If you don't look at the real economy you will miss opportunities. In Europe, the biggest opportunity is the Sepa traffic.

Swift update panel (good moderator) at #NORC2013 pic.twitter.com/YuR45CxdkB

- Elizabeth Lumley (@LizLum) November 20, 2013

12:17 Howser: It is comforting to hear Leibbrandt talk about support and education. But I need to go back to Iceland and say we need to update our standards. You need to come to Iceland.

12:12 Q: How much is the cost of changing standards? A: Finn Otto Hansen: That is hard you should have one standard for reporting compliance - but we have one standard in each region. There is no easy answer. A: Leibbrandt: We are trying to move from regional standards to global standards -- you see this with Sepa and T2S. We have always been a big supporter of this. I like to look at languages, we are here at this conference speaking English, but we also speak the domestic language. Banks will not let go of domestic standards. MyStandards is an example of a collaboration platform, we also offer services and education to support banks and take the pressure off of back offices.

12:00 Q: Why is Swift is a good position to support banks with compliance? Leibbrandt: We are in a very good position. Our members are looking for standards and utilities. We are a non profit and we have a global footprint. We've launched Sanctions Screening and Sanctions Filter. A KYC Repository will be the third big initiative to help relieve the burden of compliance. Response from the moderator: "That was the sales pitch". <==Murmurs throughout the audience.

12:00 Gottfried Leibbrandt: Boring is the new exciting, a new phrase I learned today. But the first thing I thought was 'Sweden is the new Italy' <==Gottfried made a joke!

Join us after the break for:

11:45 - 12:45 SWIFT update

Hear from SWIFT about the SWIFT2015 strategy

• Finn Otto Hansen, SWIFT Board member
• Delia Howser, SWIFT Services / Relationship Management, Arion banki
• Gottfried Leibbrandt, Chief Executive Officer, SWIFT
• KG Rickhamre, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Coast Communications (moderator)

11:29 Time for a coffee break folks. We'll be back soon.

11:24 Last words from the panel this morning: Östros: We need a future discussion on what role banks should have in society. Hygrell: When banks intrude new ways of thinking - you need the whole bank working with you. Stenström: Balance sheet assessment and stress tests are supposed to build stability and trust. This is an opportunity. We need to enter this era with a clean slate.

11:18 Östros: The Nordics are very concerned with Facta, but also the threat of the financial transaction tax. Hygrell: In regards to Facta, we are now unpaid agents of the US IRS. The regulations are always changing, but we need to comply. It is hard to comply from a personal perspective when the full regulation is not in place.

11:17 Q: How much is an issue with non-regional regulations, such as Facta, in the Nordics?

11:06 Kauppi and Hygrell agree that splitting up the banks is a poor idea. Kauppi: The Nordics markets are reliant on the market makers, you cannot take those out of the system. Hygrell: If you are a strong bank and have control of your market risk and adequate capitalising, why do you need to split up the bank?

11:06 Östros: The reasoning behind the 'splitting up the banks' is very weak. No one can pinpoint a banking model on the cause of the banking crisis. Trading activities did not cause the banking crisis, that came from retail lending.

11:06 Q: What affect would the splitting up of the banks (slipping off retail) have on the Nordics?

11:02 Stenström is fighting back against the accusation by the panel that regulations have been slow to adequately respond to the fall out from the financial crisis. The crisis was a huge upheaval, he says. The response from the regulators and the speed has been impressive. "Certainly, fragmentation is the last thing we want to see." There are banks inside and outside the SSM, the is a "huge challenge."

11:00 The panel is now all agreeing (debating) on why the 'single market' seems to have created a more fragmented market in Europe.

10:59 Östros: A Banking Union is a very powerful concept, for both those inside and outside it. Is there a single market or a super single market?

10:55 Thought provoking opening comments from Luciana Pacor Hygrell- Where is the level playing field? What happened to the single rule book and one single market? Are banks safer?

10:49 Kauppi: Every banker in this room knows that there is a 'new normal' Regulators should not regulate the old crisis, the battles that have already been fought in the market. A Single Rule Book and a Single Market is very important.

10:45 Piia Noora Kauppi: The Banking and Resolution Recovery Directive is the missing link. Banks should be allowed to go into bankruptcy without causing a systemic crisis. Shareholders should bail out the banks not the taxpayers.

10:38 Stenström: One of the greatest challenges for the ECB is managing how banks interact and are influenced by each other - including banks that are in and are not in the banking union. Price stability is the ECB's main goal but it is now concerned with wider financial stability within Europe. Three actions the ECB will start include: 1. Supervisory risk assessment; 2. a point in time asset quality review and 3. stress tests run with the EBA. Results will be published prior to when the ECB takes up its new supervisory role in Europe.

10:32 Mikael Stenström: To keep on the theme of what was boring is now exciting. Today, to be a central banker is exciting - it wasn't always.

10:15 - 11:15 Panel: Regulation - are we there yet?

• Piia Noora Kauppi, Managing Director, Federation for Finnish Financial Services
• Thomas Östros, Chief Executive Officer, Swedish Bankers Association
• Luciana Pacor Hygrell, Head of Compliance, Handelsbanken
• Mikael Stenström, Head of Division, Directorate General Legal Services, European Central Bank
• Richard Young, Regulatory Affairs, SWIFT (moderator)

10:22 Östros concludes by saying that tighter regulation will increase costs for banks, but it may result in safer banks. At the end shareholders and lenders need to pay for the banking crisis, not taxpayers. But finally, how strong a role will the ECB play in the Banking Union? Will Sweden remain outside that Union?

10:12 Östros: ECB will be a very powerful player in Europe. It will be able to intervene in any of the 6,000 banks in the Union. From a Swedish perspective it will be very important how the ECB will work in practice.

10:10 Östros warns that many in Germany are pushing for the Financial Transaction Tax to be back on the agenda in Europe.

10:04 Östros: One of the reasons why Swedish banks have been stable during the past few years is that they've always been adequately capitalized. We used to believe that having low inflation was the key to stability, however, prior to the demise of Lehman Brothers we had low inflation, but a bubble was growing. During that time deregulation was prioritised in the capital markets. We are now looking at being better capitalised, more transparent and better managing liquidity risks.

10:00 Östros talks about the never ending march of digital on the consumer economy siting 80% of Swedes pay their bills on the internet and 17% are using e-invoivces for household bills. He also seems to feel that the US economy will be "the train to pull the world out of recession." But that the Nordics are tied to the European economy.

09:55

Thomas Ostros, Swedish Bankers Association giving the keynote #NORC2013 pic.twitter.com/h28vB3eeS4

- Elizabeth Lumley (@LizLum) November 20, 2013

09:45 - 10:15 Keynote speech: The future of the banking landscape

A national perspective with an international outlook, looking at how upcoming regulation will impact the landscape, what can the banking community do to be prepared and how we can "optimize impact" as much as possible.

• Thomas Östros, Chief Executive Officer, Swedish Bankers Association

09:46 Erica Åhman is reviewing the current economic state of the Nordics region. "There is still some uncertainty, the outlook is still fragile." She makes a point that the Nordics mainly trade "with each other". However, Åhman cites a stronger growth in payments in the Nordics, which is a sign of stronger GDP.

09:41 Fors makes a lot of statements during his welcome speech. One that the global securities industry could not be what it is today, without Swift. the second is that he once thought Swift was "boring", but never fear because "boring" is the new "exciting".

09:39 Göran Fors: Half of Swift is payments, the other half is securities and a "third half" is "other areas".

09:38 Welcome

Swift Nordics Regional Conference Welcome #NORC2013 pic.twitter.com/Ve5QzNJfgF

- Elizabeth Lumley (@LizLum) November 20, 2013

09:30 - 09:45 Welcome

• Erica Åhman, Head of SWIFT Nordics, SWIFT
• Göran Fors, Head of Asset Servicing, Transaction Banking, SEB and SWIFT NMG chairperson for Sweden

11:15 - 11:45 Coffee break 

11:45 - 12:45 SWIFT update

Hear from SWIFT about the SWIFT2015 strategy

• Finn Otto Hansen, SWIFT Board member
• Delia Howser, SWIFT Services / Relationship Management, Arion banki
• Gottfried Leibbrandt, Chief Executive Officer, SWIFT
• KG Rickhamre, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Coast Communications (moderator)

15:45 - 17:15 Securities stream The evolving Nordic securities landscape and the impact of T2S and CSDR