ISITC TALKTIME: The Future of Corporate Actions
ISITC TalkTime Podcast: The Future of Corporate Actions – Insights from SWIFT
Introduction
In this latest TalkTime Podcast entitled ‘The Future of Corporate Actions’ Gary Wright, Director of ISITC Europe welcomes Kelli West, Global Head of Securities and FX Strategy at SWIFT, to discuss the evolving landscape of corporate actions and SWIFT’s strategic role in shaping industry standards and practices.
SWIFT’s Role in Securities
SWIFT is a global, member-owned cooperative connecting over 11,000 financial institutions in 200+ countries. Securities messaging is a core business, making up more than half of SWIFT’s traffic. SWIFT’s vision is to enable instant, secure, and low-friction transactions, focusing on speed, transparency, cost-effectiveness, and predictability.
Corporate Actions: From Back Office to Strategic Priority
Corporate actions, always a semi manual routine back-office function requiring detailed knowledge of all types of corporate event in different international jurisdictions is now a strategic priority for both buy side and sell side capital market firms. Due to increasing volume and complexity especially post-pandemic, and with accelerated settlement cycles (T+1 and beyond), and the rise of digital assets. Investors expect real-time updates and transparency, but many institutions still rely on manual interventions with outdated, fragmented systems, creating risks and inefficiencies.
Challenges in International Investing
Cross-border investing adds complexity, with multiple intermediaries and manual processes leading to latency, risk, and potential errors. Modernizing corporate actions systems processes but also the design of the corporate action transaction is crucial to address vulnerabilities, especially as settlement cycles accelerate and latency between decision making and acceptance reduces.
Data Standardization & ISO 20022
SWIFT advocates for machine-readable, standardized data (ISO 20022) to enable seamless, real-time corporate action processing. AI and automation are important, but shared standards are essential! This to achieve interoperability across the capital market players domestically and internationally. All firms involved in the corporate action! Global adoption of ISO 20022 is underway, with SWIFT facilitating alignment among issuers, custodians, asset managers, fintech’s, and regulators.
Accelerated Settlement: T+1 and T+0
SWIFT supports various settlement cycles, including T+0 (atomic settlement), and is preparing for a future where traditional and digital assets coexist. Projects like Corporate Actions Lifecycle Management (CALM) explore smart contracts and decentralized data feeds for tamper-proof, synchronized announcements.
Behavioral Change & Industry Collaboration
The shift in volume and complexity requires transparent communication and harmonized processes. SWIFT encourages firms to experiment with new technologies, participate in standard-setting, and rethink client engagement. The future will be hybrid, requiring readiness for both traditional and tokenized assets.
ESG and Corporate Actions
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) factors are increasingly important. Investors expect sustainability-linked events and disclosures. SWIFT aims to embed ESG attributes into event flows with structured, verifiable data, supporting investor screening and regulatory reporting.
Looking Ahead
SWIFT is preparing a white paper on the future of corporate actions, calling for industry-wide collaboration to reduce friction and redefine financial market operations. The urgency is clear, technology is ready, and the industry is aligning for transformation.
Key Takeaways:
- Corporate actions are becoming even more strategic and complex.
- Data standardization (ISO 20022) and automation are critical.
- SWIFT is leading efforts to modernize, harmonize, and future-proof corporate actions across the capital market for all players.
- ESG and digital assets are shaping new requirements.
- Industry collaboration and readiness for hybrid models are essential.
Viewing time 20 mins
Kelli West, Global Head of Securities and FX Strategy at SWIFT
Kelli is the Global Head of Securities & FX Strategy at Swift, where she leads global initiatives and sets strategic direction in the securities and FX sectors. With diverse experience and leadership across key financial institutions, she has built an extensive track record in the industry.
Kelli began her career at Société Générale in Paris, initially in Corporate Cash Management before transitioning to Correspondent Banking. She later moved to Luxembourg to join Brown Brothers Harriman in their Investor Services division. Upon returning to Paris, she rejoined Société Générale in the Securities Services sector, managing complex relationships with brokers, custodians, CCPs, and CSDs within the Capital Markets ecosystem.
Since joining Swift in 2021, Kelli has been responsible for managing strategic securities clients across Europe and contributing to transversal projects, including Digital Assets.
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