The Future of Finance after SEPA by Chris Skinner

Published by Wiley, April 08

The implementation of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) taking place this year within the banking industry, leading to full operation in 2010, will be a massive change to not just banking, but all aspects of finance and financial services across Europe and the globe. The Future of Finance after SEPA by Chris Skinner reviews the key implications and challenges of SEPA and the Payment Services Directive (PSD) across the European landscape, and the likely outcomes of SEPA for 2010 and beyond.

- The book's launch at The Financial Services Club event in London on Monday 7th April will provide a unique opportunity to network with key contributors - read on to find out more...

SEPA was created by Europe’s banks in 2002 in response to regulations and plans drawn up by the European Commission from a meeting in Lisbon at the turn of the millennium. Consequently, SEPA has been assisted by new legislation - the Payment Services Directive (PSD) which was agreed in 2007.

The vision for SEPA is that, by 2010, all euro payments are treated in the same way as domestic payments. In other words, European citizens and corporations enjoy a transparent market where there is no difference in charges for payments between Rome, Madrid, Paris and Munich. As a result, citizens, governments and corporations will have full access to finance transparently across 15 countries today and potentially 31 tomorrow. A United States of Europe, fuelled by fully integrated financing, will be different to the fragmented Europe of the past.

The main themes that emerge are that many of Europe’s leading providers of payments infrastructures, which are often bank-owned, will disappear and new payments providers and structures will emerge. Some of these will be evolutions and some will be revolutions. In addition, there will be major impacts upon those banks that cannot provide euro-services competitively in this new geographically competitive environment. The winners will reap major rewards, but there will be far more losers who will be merged or acquired.

The Future of Finance after SEPA looks at SEPA from all angles, with contributions from all the key players: banks, infrastructure and payment processors, corporates, solutions providers and, of course, the European Commission.

The book's launch event will be an opportunity to network with key contributors, including Nick Senechal of Vocalink, Anthony Kirby of Ernst and Young, James Barclay of JP Morgan, Geoffrey de Schrevel of SWIFT and Jonathan Williams of Eiger. After looking at the book and its themes, there will be a panel discussion led by Rick Wolfe, President of Canadian firm PostStone Corporation, with panellists: Paul Tydeman, Group Treasury Manager for Virgin Atlantic, Mark Abraham, Finance Director, Wilson James, Michael J. Barley, Director of Group Security, BSkyB, Chris Robinson, Managing Director, Direct Response Ltd.

Limited spaces are available - please contact Caroline Baines for more information - email

About the author
Chris Skinner is the CEO of Balatro, a global network of professionals from financial services institutions and technology vendors who are interested in the future of financial services. Chris is well-known for his regular columns in Finextra and the Banker. Since 2003 he has been the Chairman of the Banker magazine’s Technology Awards Program and also works closely with the financial markets research firm TowerGroup, managing their European Research programs.
Chris is known as an exceptional speaker. He has been the keynote at many of the largest financial services conferences, including the Bank Administration Institute (BAI) in the USA, IIR in the Middle East and the Financial Times in Europe.
Prior to founding Balatro, Chris was Vice President of Marketing and Strategy for Unisys Global Financial Services and Strategy Director with NCR Financial Services. These roles sparked Chris’s specialization in the future of financial services after he created the Global Future Forum in Unisys and the Knowledge Lab in NCR. Other books by Chris include The Future of Banking In a Globalised World and The Future of Investing in Europe's Markets after MiFID.

ISBN: 978-0-470-98782-7;  Hardback;  £34.99 / €49

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For more information please contact Caroline Baines, Publicity Manager, via the following form: MediaRequest

For US queries, please contact Lori Sayde-Mehrtens