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Well said Dean!

Its a long road back and it could get very cold and lonely for those countries looking after No1

Thank you Matthijs for your comment and I very much agree with your analysis.

Its hard to see how the FS firms can manage this change even though I except the benefits of ISO 20022. Sometimes the cure is worse than the illness!

Anymore comments please?

Thanks Paul

I am very concerned that despite the initiatives with various standards in payments and securities that the importance of giving the customers/clients what they want at a price which is attractive is being missed. Its all very well technology being developed and standards being implemented to provide solutions to age old market problems but the customer must be convinced of the value and that their business will benefit otherwise Gianfranco Tabasso's threat may not be an idle one!

Thanks for posting this Chris

It would be good to hear the views of a few more out there to maintain a balanced but critical debate so we can learn more about what the true situation is for both banks but more importantly in my book the corporate users

Thanks for the rap Ross, its nice to get feedback. Your conference sumary is very accurate and I too am concerned by the gap between industry understanding. I think this surely a case of too many cooks and no Chef!

On the Benchmarking of Corporate Actions point you made. We have pushed the industry panel of CA experts to ask for innovative solutions from the vendors. We have in a way put the vendors in a parrallel race to design solutions that the buyers want. I am pleased to say there are some really excellent CA systems available today. They are all being developed and getting better all the time but industry wide STP will remain outside of their capability unless the issuers and market begin to at least agree on fundementals of CA type standards (This is not always messages so not really SWIFT), communication and bring the relevant TAX agencies into the standardised communication loop. XBRL?

The other way around I believe we have also been able to inform and educate the buyers and get them looking in the right direction. Thanks for your comments again and I hope your Blog is read with great care by the market as it holds some considerable value 

Wow, not sure where the Olympics came in Chris! However, as you mention like many people we are concerned with cost escalation and the ability to deliver. Heathrow 5! Just an example but we could mention the Dome, Wembley and so on. Our record just is not good.

Anyway back to the point the SEPA project must be a failure until it delivers benefits to the customer. Several months in where are they?

Do we have to waite until DD enters before we see benefits? Dont benefits accrue or do we wait years until someone declares that SEPA is complete? Do benefits only appear when the whole thing is up and running? If so why?

Like MiFID the benefits do not hit the investors straight away and until I see the industry servicing the clients to the level that the directives set as an objective, it is a failure in my book.

For all my career, there has been a concentration on delivering good services to my clients, not sitting around waiting for directives and regulations to lead the way. Call it British if you will but I will always champion client interests, the need to protect them and offer great services at an attractive price. And I truely believe something is lacking in SEPA and MiFID so far. 

Was SEPA not the industry solution to the PSD? Corporates are clearly not receiving many benefits yet, even though several months of SEPA being implemented have passed. 

EACT have been trying for years to assist with SEPA and have struggled to get their requirements accepted by the industry. So we have the legal position in place, the customers willing, but the service suppliers hovering without intent. It's not a technology issue so we must look deeper into why time is slipping away and still no evidence that banks are serious about offering new services and prices. 

You're doing a grand job in excusing the lack of SEPA benefits Chris but I must take the side of the customer and ask when do we get to the SEPA promised land?   

Hi Chris

Apreciate the staus of SEPA right now but we do work in a service industry and the banks appear reluctant to contact their customers with descriptions of the changes and new prices because of SEPA. Surely a project of the size of SEPA would entail more customer liason ? It makes it look like the Banks dont want it and are dragging their heels. Recent loses by banks due to the crunch might have something to do with it? Or am i being cynical?

Thank you Bob for this practical experience of SEPA. I suspect you not alone in this. The research I did last year on SEPA showed that Banks were involved in SEPA mystery projects with their customers not receiving any information concerning benefits of SEPA. New prices were and as your experience shows in short supply.

If the corporates are not receiving any of the benefits that SEPA was promised to deliver we must conclude that SEPA has failed. In which case SEPA is just political smoke and mirrors. What sanctions are there to force banks to deliver SEPA benefits to their customers and who is measuring that banks are delivering what SEPA promised?

I suspect we are seeing the biggest con ever!

Anyone got an alternative view? Especially banks!

Gary 

 This BLOG was also published on SWIFT and attracted a great comment from SWIFT that i recomend viewing

Gary