The Securities Market Practice Group, an industry standards body established under the auspices of Swift, has cancelled its global meeting in April due to Iraqi war fears and budgetary and travel restrictions imposed on participating firms.
The SMPG meeting was scheduled to take place in Turkey in April. The group is planning another global get-together ahead of the annual Swift show in Singapore in September.
A message posted on the group Website explains the decision: "Considering the current situation in Iraq, many companies have restricted travelling not only to this region but everywhere." It goes on to say that the steering committee had "no other choice" than to cancel the event.
The commencement of hostilities in Iraq was a deciding factor in the decision, but the group was already prepared for a poor turn-out. In an online poll of SMPG members conducted in September last year, 37.84% of respondents said they would not be attending either the Turkish or Singapore meetings "due to budget or travel restrictions".
Last week, German ERP vendor SAP responded to the prevailing nervousness in corporate IT and travel markets by scrapping this year's annual Sapphire event and replacing it with two separate regional forums. SAP says its decision was precipitated by sales feedback suggesting European CIOs and CFOs are fighting shy of long business trips.