Learning together

Another day - another breakfast meeting after a late night.  They definitely get harder and I shall be glad of the lie in tomorrow.

I have gained the feeling that many people are feelinga little more jaded this morning and the Exhibition Hall feels quiter today. But the conversations remain useful and stimulating.

My initial meeting today included a lively comparision of developments across the world, from the UK to Australia, the US to Europe. The drivers may be different, but the issues of concern are very similar - faster payments, governance, money laundering, e-invoicing, ease of account switching.  Clearly a need for us all to learn from each other and be aware of that the solutions agreed in one market may well become the standards expected in an other.

Over coffee similar discussions proved that developments around SEPA are achieving the same as those around MiFID.  I have always felt the harmonisation and standardisations for securities and payments across Europe are heading towards the same end game and may be we should be working together.  In deed if both markets become harmonised, will we see more mergers of financial organisations across Europe as it becomes easier to gain the synergies? The potential for change within the market remains high and will keep us on our toes for years to come.

Off to see what our Asian colleagues have to add to these thoughts.

More later after the Closing Plenary before I party.