Interbank messaging network Swift has confirmed that this year's operations forum, Sibos 2003 will proceed as planned, taking place in Singapore from 20-24 October.
Concern about the spread of SARS earlier this year led Swift to set 27 June as a final checkpoint date for its decision to proceed with the annual conference and exhibition.
At that time, Swift also announced that it would confirm a watch list of locations where SARS is not yet contained. Based on reports from the World Health Organisation, the locations currently on that list are Taiwan and Toronto. Sibos participants from locations still on this list by 1 September will be subject to special entry/exit procedures implemented by the Singapore authorities, says Swift.
On 31 May, the World Health Organisation removed Singapore from its list of SARS affected countries, where authorities now believe that the risk of acquiring the deadly respiratory disease is the same as for non-affected countries. Since then, many countries and organisations have lifted travel advisories relating to Singapore, including those implemented by the Centres for Disease Control & Prevention in the United States, World Bank, and IMF.
SWIFT CEO Leonard Schrank comments: "With uncertainty now behind us, I expect a surge in delegate registrations. We have already sold 85% of the exhibition space and 74 out of 81 of our invited speakers have already confirmed their active participation in Sibos."