At Sibos 2026 in Miami, The Asian Banker examines how leading financial institutions are deploying AI, advancing tokenised finance and adapting to regulatory shifts under this year's theme, “Digital finance for AI-driven economies”.
Our coverage focuses on:
Payments & market infrastructure Regulation, payment experience and infrastructure for future demand.
Securities & FX T+1 settlement, tokenisation and corporate actions.
Risk & resilience Supply-chain disruption, settlement risk and operational resilience.
AI & emerging technology AI governance and returns, quantum computing and distributed ledgers.
Sustainable finance & inclusion ESG-aligned assets and progress in financial inclusion.
Bank of America’s Siddarth Gupta and Chandana Thanthrige argue that transaction banks will increasingly compete on their ability to convert data into decisions, coordinate multiple payment networks and deploy AI within clear limits as access to technology becomes less distinctive.
As traditional transaction banking products become more commoditised, Deutsche Bank sees new sources of growth emerging around data-driven services, embedded treasury, new payment rails and working-capital solutions. Tsvetanka Nankova argues that banks will need to turn transaction data into decision intelligence while retaining the advantages of regulated balance sheets and trust and partnering where others can extend their capabilities.
As cross-border payments become more sophisticated, DBS Bank's Sriram Muthukrishnan argues that competitive advantage will increasingly belong to banks that understand customer intent first, then hide the growing complexity of payment infrastructure behind a simpler customer experience.
International trade is steadily shifting from documentary trade towards open account trading, requiring banks to rethink how they assess risk and deliver financing. Runa Baksi explained how HSBC is redesigning trade finance around trusted commercial data, embedded finance and new digital operating models while preserving established risk principles.
Rather than replacing correspondent banking with a single new technology, Standard Chartered believes the next phase of cross-border payments lies in integration within a common operating model. Naveen Mallela explains why interoperability, liquidity and operational certainty are becoming more important than simply building another payment rail.
Swift has moved its blockchain-based shared ledger from concept to readiness for initial use in nine months, with 17 banks preparing to pilot live tokenised-deposit transactions. The test is whether a messaging cooperative can coordinate separate bank liabilities across borders without itself becoming a settlement institution.
As digital assets move into commercial deployment, Standard Chartered is preparing for their adoption across capital markets and payments by building capabilities in custody, tokenisation, settlement infrastructure and emerging payments.
Europe's on-chain euro challenge is no longer whether a regulated token can be issued, but whether enough banks and counterparties can make it liquid enough to matter. Qivalis, backed by 37 European banks, is testing whether commercial-bank network density can become Europe's answer to dollar stablecoin dominance.
Financial Technology Weekly: Sony Bank and Fujitsu apply GenAI to core banking, FIS wins mandates across new US banks, Partior and LSEG develop 24/7 cross-border settlement liquidity.
Financial Markets Weekly: US Senate blocks Clarity Act, Circle launches Arc blockchain, Shanghai Clearing House adds three currencies, India widens tokenised-bond pilot.
Transaction Finance Weekly: DBS, OCBC and UOB complete Swift's first live SGD tokenised-deposit settlement, Lloyds-SocGen digitise a letter of credit and US Bank pilots USBDC stablecoin.
Risk and Capital Weekly Brief: EU delays FRTB capital impacts through 2029, Canada cuts SME risk weights, Singapore proposes loss-absorbing capacity rules, and UniCredit gains 52bp CET1 boost.
Risk and Capital Weekly: China's state banks bolster capital, APRA tightens controls at ING Australia, RBI moves to drain surplus liquidity
Transaction Finance Weekly: Citi and HSBC advance Swift-ledger payments, OFSI fines Citi and ByteDance secures a $29.6 billion loan.
Financial Technology Weekly: Deutsche Bank consolidates core systems as TD and CMB scale AI while regulators flag cyber-resilience risks.
Financial Markets Weekly: Institutions globally advanced tokenisation and cross-border settlement infrastructure this week, as Broadridge scaled its $351 billion repo platform and China enforced variation-margin rules.
The 2026-2027 edition of the Global Leaders in Banking and Financial Technology Directory and Handbook profiles the leaders and institutions driving change across banking and financial technology. It brings together executives from banks, fintech firms and AI companies at a time when the industry is moving beyond incremental digital upgrades towards a fundamental redesign of how banking operates.
The handbook pairs its directory of global leaders with research and analysis examining the technologies, operating models and infrastructure shaping this transition. Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving from isolated pilots into core banking processes, supported by real-time data, adaptable architectures and stronger digital infrastructure. Tokenised deposits, stablecoins and blockchain-based settlement are also gaining ground, while banks are embedding resilience, security and trust into increasingly connected and autonomous systems. These shifts are laying the foundations for a more intelligent, real-time banking environment and changing how institutions compete, innovate and serve their customers.
The TAB Global Leadership Achievement Awards take stock of the individuals reshaping the banking industry, measuring how leaders translate vision into execution rather than isolated financial performance. The 2026 cohort names Hironori Kamezawa of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group as Global CEO of the Year, with MUFG also recognised as Global Bank of the Year, alongside Best Bank CEO and Best Managed Bank honours in Malaysia (Hong Leong Bank) and the Philippines (Bank of the Philippine Islands), a lifetime achievement honour for Tengku Zafrul Aziz, and further recognition spanning regulation, technology leadership and rising banking talent, including the Promising Young Banker Awards, conferred every three years since 2008.
Our feature in this issue examines how financial institutions should build and sustain digital trust as artificial intelligence transforms the threat landscape, exploring the governance, data and control frameworks banks need to keep pace with increasingly autonomous systems.
