Ukraine's Swift Community at SIBOS 2026: International Cooperation, Standards and the Future of Financial Infrastructure

Miami, September 2026

Ukraine's financial community was represented at SIBOS 2026 in Miami by UkrSwift, the Ukrainian National Swift User and Member Group.

Participation in this major international financial industry event provided opportunities to strengthen cooperation with Swift, the European Swift Alliance (ESA), national Swift communities and international financial standards experts.

For Ukraine, international engagement extends beyond adopting new technologies. It is about contributing to the development of financial standards, market practices and infrastructure that support secure, efficient and trusted international financial services.

Strengthening the Role of National Swift Communities

Ahead of SIBOS 2026, representatives of national Swift communities gathered in Miami for the annual Swift Chairpersons Meeting.

The meeting addressed the evolution of Swift's governance, the strategic development of international financial infrastructure and the growing importance of cooperation among national member groups.

The ongoing governance reform, including the establishment of the Swift Council, creates new opportunities for national financial communities to contribute to strategic discussions and represent their members' interests.

For UkrSwift, this development is particularly relevant to its Strategy 2035, which aims to strengthen the role of Ukraine's financial community in the international financial ecosystem.

Participants of the Swift Chairpersons Meeting 2026, representing national Swift member groups from around the world. Miami, September 2026.

European Cooperation Through the EMEA Swift Alliance

European cooperation was another important dimension of UkrSwift's participation in SIBOS 2026.

Ukraine became a full member of the EMEA Swift Alliance (ESA) in October 2025, strengthening its institutional links with EMEA national Swift communities.

The ESA meeting held in Miami provided an opportunity to exchange views on common challenges and priorities, including financial infrastructure resilience, international standards, cybersecurity and compliance.

As financial infrastructure becomes increasingly interconnected, cooperation among national communities plays a growing role in maintaining operational resilience, promoting common standards and addressing shared risks.

For Ukraine, ESA provides an important platform for contributing to European financial industry initiatives and strengthening professional cooperation with European partners.

International infrastructure initiatives developed by Swift also create new opportunities for cooperation among financial communities, including those in countries participating in the Coalition of the Willing in support of Ukraine.

Representatives of the European Swift Alliance (ESA) at SIBOS 2026 in Miami.

ISO 20022 and Ukrainian Market Practices

The continued implementation of ISO 20022 remains one of UkrSwift's strategic priorities.

Discussions during SIBOS 2026 highlighted the importance of data quality, structured addresses, reliable identification and effective financial crime compliance.

These issues have particular relevance for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian financial community faces specific challenges related to the accurate identification of Ukrainian individuals and legal entities, the representation of Ukrainian geographical names and the differentiation of territories according to their actual controlling authorities.

Such distinctions are essential for effective sanctions screening, risk assessment and financial crime prevention.

UkrSwift is addressing these challenges through the development of national market practices involving the Ukrainian Payments Market Practice Group (UPMPG), the Ukrainian Securities Market Practice Group (USMPG) and Technical Committee for Standardization TC 199.

One of the practical outcomes of this work is the UkrSwift Transliteration Standard 2.1, which was presented to international colleagues during Sibos 2026.

The standard aims to provide consistent Latin-script representation of Ukrainian names, particularly for financial messaging, structured addresses and identification purposes.

UkrSwift is also considering extending the approach to support other European languages through the use of country-specific identifiers.

The broader objective is to improve data quality and support more effective identification, compliance and risk management across international financial networks.

Learn more: UkrSwift Transliteration Standard 2.1

Innovation and the Future of Financial Infrastructure

SIBOS 2026 also provided an opportunity to discuss the evolution of international payments and financial infrastructure.

Two important Swift initiatives attracted particular attention.

Swift Payment Scheme focuses on improving the speed, transparency and predictability of international payments, including the experience of end customers.

Swift Digital Ledger explores new infrastructure capabilities for tokenised assets and interoperability between traditional financial systems and emerging digital platforms.

These developments are relevant to Ukraine's financial sector, including the modernisation of payment infrastructure and the future development of securities market practices.

UkrSwift is particularly interested in opportunities to enhance interoperability between Ukrainian financial market infrastructure and international systems, including through ISO 20022-based solutions for securities transactions.

Cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and emerging technological risks were also among the important subjects discussed during SIBOS.

These areas reinforce the need for cooperation among financial institutions, infrastructure providers and national Swift communities.

Standards — Platform — Community

One of the key messages from the Swift Chairpersons Meeting was the importance of three fundamental components of the Swift ecosystem:

Standards — Platform — Community.

Standards provide a common language for international financial transactions.

The platform enables secure technological interoperability.

The community supports cooperation, mutual trust and the collective development of financial infrastructure.

National Swift User and Member Groups play an important role in connecting these three components.

They provide an institutional framework through which financial institutions can coordinate their positions, contribute to international standards and participate in the development of shared infrastructure.

In Ukraine, UkrSwift serves this role by bringing together the country's Swift users and members and facilitating their engagement with the international financial community.

Ukraine's Financial Community and UkrSwift Strategy 2035

Participation in SIBOS 2026 reinforced the relevance of UkrSwift's long-term strategic priorities.

Ukraine's financial community should not only adopt international financial standards and infrastructure solutions but also actively participate in shaping their future.

UkrSwift will continue strengthening cooperation with Swift, ESA, international standards bodies, national Swift communities and global market practice groups.

Key priorities include ISO 20022 adoption, financial data quality, structured addresses, cybersecurity, compliance, securities market practices and international interoperability.

These activities form part of UkrSwift Strategy 2035, aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity of Ukraine's financial community and expanding its participation in the global financial ecosystem.

Ukraine's financial community is committed to being an active contributor to the development of secure, resilient and interoperable international financial infrastructure.