Abu Dhabi : Over 300 members of the UAE's finance industry gathered in Abu Dhabi yesterday to discuss key learnings from the global financial crisis and where the next challenges lie as the world enters an age of austerity.

The event, organised by US-based software and technology services company SunGard, focused on transparency, efficiency and networks as drivers of change in the Middle East.

Colin Morrison, a member of the Global Investment Performance Standards executive committee, said transparency was still seen by many global investors as "a barrier" to entering the GCC market.

Significant issue

He said: "Transparency is a fairly significant issue; I think it is frequently cited as the barrier to new entry into [the GCC] market. If you look at what is happening in Saudi Arabia with the introduction of exchange-traded funds and the announcement in relation to the accessibility of local markets to outside investors, the region still lags some way behind in terms of the practices, behaviours and openness that exist in more developed markets.

"I think companies in the GCC region are aware of [the importance of risk assessment] but maybe they don't apply [practices] with the same rigour and determination. In part, that is driven by something within but it is also being driven by investment owners themselves. If you look at some of the changes in behaviour we have seen post 2008, some of them have been driven by self-regulation, some of them by the regulators.

"The US market in particular seems to be leading the way as the regulator there has fundamentally changed the way it is operating. I think we can all expect more stringent ways of doing business in terms of both acquiring and retaining business and in the form of mergers and acquisitions between firms."

Wissam Khoury, Managing Director of SunGard Financial Systems Middle East, said: "As we talk to our customers [in the region], we see the majority are focused on gaining greater transparency into their risks and exposures.

"As firms expand and look at more international markets, they need to leverage business process networks to improve automation and efficiency. SunGard's expertise and portfolio of solutions can help financial institutions in the Middle East to achieve greater transparency efficiency and network connectivity."

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