This year's edition of the AFBS Get Together took place at Bär & Karrer in Zürich. Approximately 100 members, partners and friends of the Association joined the festive event.
Adrian Nösberger, Chair of AFBS, kicked off the formal part of the event by welcoming the guests and highlighting the importance of foreign banks for the Swiss financial sector and economy.
Eva Selamlar, Head of the Financial Innovation Desk (FIND), Federal Department of Finance, then offered a deep-dived into the four key trends identified in the Pathway 2035: * AI is expected to be the biggest technological shift for the coming decade in the financial industry; * real-world use cases for digital assets and especially the use of stablecoins are vamping up; * as for every financial transaction, digital trust is the foundation that must be built to create a digitally innovative financial sector; * quantum-safe encryption will become essential in the upcoming years as the technology is expected to threaten asymmetric encryption methods in less than three years. Switzerland benefits from an existing ecosystem with innovative institutions regarding all of these four points. It must make sure frame conditions remain welcoming for new initiatives in the realm of digitalisation.
Joel Fischer, Partner at Bär & Karrer, and Ralph Kreis, Partner at AlixPartners, animated the guests to share their views on an array of questions regarding innovation and digitalisation. Two answers struck the most: Half of the respondents do not estimate lower costs with the implementation of AI while a sweeping majority believes that the new technologies will be a net positive for the Swiss financial centre.
The panel with Enna Pariset, Deputy Chair AFBS, CEO and Head of Territory for BNP Paribas Group Switzerland; Björn Sibbern, CEO of SIX Group; and Christian Kunz, Partner at Bär & Karrer; elaborated on the topics raised. Lisa Osofsky, Partner at AlixPartners (Washington D.C.), challenged the panel with some of the questions previously raised and moderated an thought-provoking and insightful discussion on challenges and opportunities digitalisation offers to the Swiss financial centre. Enna Pariset highlighted the importance of exchange and collaboration for innovation; she insisted on partnerships to be deepened between Swiss and foreign players. Björn Sibbern encourages Switzerland to be more proud and have better promotion of existing innovations; he confirms that Switzerland doesn't have to shy away from its international competition. Christian Kunz shared his view on the role of data security for an innovative landscape in Switzerland; he confirmed that the environment of stability, safety, predictability Switzerland offers continues to be attractive also in a digital world.
The ensuing standing dinner offered room for exchange and networking.
AFBS thanks the speakers and guests for attending and contributing to this beautiful event, as well as the organising partners: Bär & Karrer and AlixPartners.
Presentations
Eva Selamlar, FIND:
Christian Kunz, Bär & Karrer:
