The banking cooperative Swift is in transition mode. The member-only organization is in the last stage of finalizing its 2010 strategy, which was approved by its board at a gathering held in Cape Town in December. Meanwhile, its current CEO Leonard Shrank plans to step down next year, with the board already well into a search for possible candidates. Rumors have Lázaro Campos, head of Swift’s banking industry division, pegged as the natural successor.

While Campos denied to InstitutionalInvestor.com at the Swift Operations Forum held in New York in March that he is a shoe-in for the position, he seemed a natural person to probe about Swift’s new agenda, and how it intends to shed its image as a slow-moving nonprofit accustomed to reacting to industry demands rather than working in tandem with the industry to develop solutions to problems before they arise.

So the question inevitably remains, is Swift up to the task? Campos says the makeover has already begun. Last year, Swift began its commercialization process, and has taken on a more collaborative approach with industry.

But Swift 2010, while broad reaching in scope and marketed as the “new vision of Swift,” seems to simply add another layer to the same old, same old. The platform will maintain the cooperative nature of Swift, while piling on 10 strategic initiatives. These include efforts that aim to increase its customer base to include more corporate clients, which grew to 108 in 2005; expanding its presence in emerging markets, especially within the BRICA countries; developing a European standard; and creating new products for hedge funds and derivatives.

The list of initiatives is impressive, granted, but banks and financial institutions have become a noticeable presence in emerging markets for nearly two decades and the number of transactions that hedge funds and derivatives account for by 2010 is unimaginable. The efforts, on the surface at least, seem less proactive and in the same reactionary vein that has plagued Swift since its inception more than 30 years ago.


Campos insists this isn’t the case. Swift is more proactive these days, but it is still saddled with a 25-member board that slows both decision-making and implementation. “We are trying to be more proactive, more entrepreneurial, faster,” Campos says, acknowledging that the cooperative has been accused of being too slow. In Swift 2010, Campos says, it is facing issues affecting the industry, rather than waiting for the industry to ask, which was the old style of doings things as recent as 2000.

Within the new initiative, among the top on Campos’ list of priorities is integrating Swift into local markets. At the mention of emerging markets and Asia, a large grin spreads over his face; his enthusiasm is palpable. Campos seems genuinely concerned that while Swift has had a presence in Asia for more than 27 years, it is still considered a “European” entity or outsider to the local institutions.

“We’re already playing to the global nature of standardization,” Campos said. “The next chapter is the localization of that market. We need the model to be more local and to become more a part of the domestic fabric. The local community needs to feel that they are in control; right now they don’t.”

But change doesn’t happen overnight. Swift has partnered with McKinsey in Asia, is in the process of translating its Web sites and communication materials and fostering local partnerships. The question remains, will it be enough to ready these communities for the acceleration of changes hitting the market.