Financial services in MENA – a look into the future

The future evolution of Middle East banking and financial services topped the agenda at the fourth SunGard City Day held in Dubai recently.

Organised by SunGard, one of the world’s leading software and technology services companies, the annual event is a forum for senior capital markets specialists, corporate and retail bankers and finance IT professionals.

Wissam Khoury, managing director, SunGard Financial Systems, Middle East, said, “The regional financial services industry is poised for accelerated development and growth over the next few years. The banking and financial services industry is undergoing significant change right now, both regionally and globally.

“In such an environment, it is imperative that market participants take a longer-term view of the key industry trends unfolding around them.”

The key theme of this year’s event was, “How Middle East financial and investment markets will evolve over the next five to 10 years.” Some of the more topical subjects discussed during the event included the impact of social media and mobile strategies on Middle Eastern banks’ business models.

Recently, SunGard released the findings of its Bank Readiness Index Survey, which found that banks in the Middle East

region were struggling to keep up with changing customer expectations and banking trends, particularly in multi-channel areas such as social media and mobility.

David Hamilton, president of SunGard’s banking business,commented, “Fundamentally, the global banking model has shifted and a transformation is now underway in how money is being managed as banks strive to re-build trust and create value for their shareholders.

“The Middle East is no exception to this. As we have seen in other parts of the world, a focus of investment for banks is on ensuring regulatory compliance and in assuring shareholders that they fully understand and can manage their risk exposures – as well as keeping pace with the technological changes taking place around them.”