Global Custodian Fall 2018 | Page 70

[ S I B O S P O W E R R A N K I N G S | T O P 1 0 ] From Sydney to Toronto and back - The SIBOS top 10 In the run up to last year’s event in Toronto, we asked John Gubert, who has been to more SIBOS conferences than any of us, which were the most memorable. Here, once again, is his report. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 70 Global Custodian Singapore 2015 HK 2009 Sydney 2006 Boston 2007 Toronto 2011 Vienna 2008 Dubai 2013 Boston 2014 Osaka 2012 Geneva 2016 Fall 2018 B eing asked to rank the different SIBOS of the past decade, taking into account the conference venue, location and programme content, is far from simple. From a location perspective, it is not surprising Asian cities scored highly, while European ones fared less well. Given the industry love affair with breakfast meetings, ease of access mattered a lot for venues; Osaka was challenging; Toronto was walkable and Sydney perfectly accessible. No specific venue scored highly, although more modern convention centres like Singapore proved more amenable. The relative securities content of the different SIBOS was more diffi- cult to judge. I assessed it on my recollection of on or off conference hall debates. Most SIBOS are rich in content, albeit to declining audienc- es as delegates prioritise client meetings over education. Sydney 2006 was all about “raising ambitions” and saw meaningful debates around the prob- lems of post-trade derivative management with, above all, a need for more automation. Given the estimated US$1.2 quadrillion of contracts in this space, the debate was timely and prescient. Boston 2007 securities plenary considered innovation in a changing landscape. The larger players questioned, with some self-interest, who