Financial Market Infrastructure News from our Blog

How Payment-Versus-Payment Makes the Forex Market More Secure

25 Apr 2025 2 minutes

Co-authored by Paula Fernandez and Manuel Dominguez

The currency market, also known as the Forex or FX market is the world’s biggest financial market, with a daily trading volume of several billion US dollars. But the settlement of FX transactions does come with risks. In this blog article, you’ll discover how banks can reduce this risk and learn what a German bank in the 70s has to do with it.

Why Financial Literacy Is Important in One’s Early Years

20 Mar 2025 5 minutes

At the Swiss Money Week, children and youth learn how to handle money. In this blog article, you’ll discover more about the impacts of financial literacy, the differences between different countries in this regard, and how Switzerland stacks up in comparison with them.

Net Zero: How Are Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies Funded?

20 Feb 2025 5 minutes

Carbon Dioxide Removal technologies actively remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. They are essential for achieving ambitious net-zero targets. But how will they be funded?

Net Zero: How Does That Actually Work?

13 Feb 2025 5 minutes

Society will not achieve carbon neutrality solely by reducing emissions. We additionally need to actively remove CO₂ from our atmosphere. Technologies exist that can do that. How do they work? Find out in this blog post.

Will Artificial Intelligence Solve or Actually Worsen the Climate Crisis?

06 Feb 2025 6 minutes

Artificial intelligence (AI) fascinates and polarizes. On one hand, generative AI requires electricity that gets consumed by data centers around the world. On the other hand, there is hardly any other technology that has as much potential to actively combat the climate crisis. The big question, though, is how can AI help to speed up sustainable development, and will it do more harm or good in the end?

The Plumbing of the Financial Sector: How Does the Repo Market Work?

19 Dec 2024 4 minutes

The repo market discreetly ensures that liquidity is available exactly where it is needed. It is crucial to a well-functioning financial system. In this blog post, we shed light on how the repo market works and explain its significance and its interest-rate mechanisms.

Is Artificial Intelligence Set to Dominate the Future of Finance?

28 Nov 2024 3 minutes

In the yearly Future of Finance study by SIX, senior executives identify artificial intelligence, cloud technology, and data analytics as the key technologies over the next few years. Read how they prioritize different technologies, and where they feel they will make the most difference.

Carbon Footprint Explained: From Causes to Solutions

14 Nov 2024 5 minutes

Co-authored by Fabienne Strobel

More and more businesses and investors are seeking to precisely measure corporate CO₂ footprints. One of the main drivers behind this movement is new regulatory requirements aimed at containing climate change and minimizing climate-related risks. Read below about what the term “CO₂ footprint” means and what factors need to be taken into account when calculating it.

A Bug Bounty Program for SIX: When Companies Invite In Hackers

01 Oct 2024 5 minutes

SIX rewards hackers who search for security holes. Learn what a bug bounty program is and why Alexander Hagenah, Head Cyber Controls at SIX, started to infiltrate others’ computers at the tender age of 12.

Understanding Greenwashing: How Do I Spot Misleading Sustainability Claims?

05 Sep 2024 6 minutes

Public opinion, lawmakers and regulators continue to narrow down the definition of which business practices are sustainable and which are not. At the same time the awareness of so-called greenwashing is on the rise. Read how some companies are at risk of making products and services seem more environmentally friendly than they really are.

Artificial Intelligence: Inspired by Mother Teresa – A Podcast on the Humanity in Data Science

11 Apr 2024 19 minutes

Julinda Gllavata, Head Data Analytics & Artificial Intelligence at SIX, emphasizes the importance of data quality for the success of artificial intelligence (AI) use cases. Find out in our podcast that despite all the technology, people are crucial and why Mother Teresa would have used AI too.

SIX Annual Report 2023: Strong Operating Result and Capital Position Despite Value Adjustments

13 Mar 2024 4 minutes

The diversified business model of SIX again proved its value in this demanding environment. Read more about how the positive trend in the operational performance continues.

USD, EUR, CHF & Co.: How Do International Currency Codes Actually Come Into Being?

22 Feb 2024 4 minutes

Clear identification of over 300 different currencies worldwide is crucial to the smooth functioning of financial transactions around the world, and this means that standardized currency codes are needed. Read in this article how they come into being and who determines them.

ICT Sector on the Way to Net Zero

01 Feb 2024 7 minutes

The digital future meets environmental responsibility. Read in this blog post how much emissions the ICT sector generates and how they can be reduced.

Liquidity during a Banking Crisis: How Can Mortgage Certificates Help?

04 Jan 2024 4 minutes

In connection with the Credit Suisse crisis, the Swiss National Bank provided emergency liquidity assistance in March 2023. Read below what register certificates and the mortgages collateralized by them have to do with this and why this is important for all Swiss banks in the future.

3 Expectations of the Financial Sector for the Future that Were Not to Be Expected

22 Nov 2023 5 minutes

The second edition of the annual Future of Finance study shows increasing optimism among executives in the global financial markets. Read how companies plan to capitalize on this sentiment, including the integration of data and analytics and artificial intelligence.

What Switzerland and Spain Have in Common and How They Can Help Each Other

10 Aug 2023 6 minutes

On the occasion of the Spanish EU presidency, we took a closer look at the two countries together with the Spanish Ambassador in Bern, María Celsa Nuño García, and the Swiss Ambassador for Spain and Andorra, Hanspeter Mock. In this interview, they explain the differences and similarities between Switzerland and Spain and how the two countries can learn from each other.

The US Will Soon Be Settling Trades within a Day – What Does That Mean for Europe?

03 Aug 2023 5 minutes

From May 2024 in the US trades will be settled within a single work day. There’s now talk in Europe of doing the same. Find out what benefits that might bring, and where the stumbling blocks might be.

Confidence, Transparency, Complexity: This Is How the Buy-Side looks at Digital Assets and ESG Investing

04 Jul 2023 4 minutes

Digital assets have reached a pivotal point in their journey towards mainstream, widespread institutional adoption. The pace and scale at which integration of ESG considerations into investment strategies is now happening across the global investment space is unprecedented. Read on to learn how investment managers recognize the respective growth potential presented by both areas.

ChatGPT & Co.: How Will Artificial Intelligence Change the Financial Industry?

23 Mar 2023 4 minutes

Everyone’s talking about ChatGPT, the chatbot that is swiftly gaining more and more users. It is certain that artificial intelligence will change our lives in many areas. Read below what this means for the financial industry.

Annual Report 2022: Solid Results for SIX in a Challenging Environment

09 Mar 2023 5 minutes

The diversified business model of SIX continued to demonstrate its strength in the past financial year. Learn more about the solid results of SIX and its progress in the challenging year 2022.

Cybersecurity: Inspired by Hiro Protagonist – A Podcast on the Reality of Science Fiction

19 Dec 2022 20 minutes

Florian Schütz, the Federal Cybersecurity Delegate, coordinates the national strategy for the protection of Switzerland against cyberrisks. Find out in our podcast how, together with banks, insurance companies and infrastructure providers such as SIX, he is increasing the cyberresilience of the financial center and what a cyberpunk novel from the 1990s has to do with it.

A Safe Place for Assets under Custody – Even in Turbulent Times

22 Nov 2022 4 minutes

Assets need to be safe at all times – not only in crises. In times of change, however, well-thought-out concepts prove particularly successful. Read about the three pillars on which the safe custody of assets at SIX is based.

Future of Finance Study by SIX: Here Are 4 Selected Findings That Will Surprise You

10 Nov 2022 4 minutes

SIX asked executives from the financial industry about their assessment of future developments. Here you can read a selection of the results that were not necessarily expected.

Special Exhibition at the Swiss Finance Museum: From the Very First Bank to Neobanks

21 Sep 2022 4 minutes

The new special exhibition “Banks in Transition: From Counters to Apps” has opened at the Swiss Finance Museum. Read below how you can experience the technological transformation of the banking industry in Zurich.

A More Secure Internet: Inspired by Ansel Adams – A Podcast on the Improvement of the Status Quo

25 May 2022 20 minutes

Adrian Perrig, professor of Computer Science at ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich), wants to use SCION technology to improve the internet. Listen to our podcast to find out how landscape photographer Ansel Adams, of all people, was his inspiration.

What Is This Metaverse Thing Anyways? And What Does It Mean for Banks?

31 Mar 2022 5 minutes

At least since Facebook changed its name, the term has been on everyone’s lips: the metaverse. What’s it all about? What do NFTs have to do with it? And what does it all mean for banks?

Annual Results 2021: SIX Continues to Deliver on Its Growth Strategy

09 Mar 2022 3 minutes

In recent years, SIX has strengthened its position in the market by executing a growth strategy and expanding its global footprint. The year 2021 was another successful one. Get an insight into the progress SIX made and learn about some of the highlights in this challenging year.

Stability in Times of Crisis – How SIX Ensures the Continuity of Its Business

21 Jan 2022 2 minutes

SIX is the backbone of the Swiss and Spanish financial centers, and its services are essential to both economies. The Business Continuity Management unit at SIX ensures the availability of these services – even during times of crisis.

SIX as Venture Capitalist

21 Dec 2021 4 minutes

To strengthen the competitiveness of the financial centers in Switzerland and Spain, SIX supports startup companies through its SIX FinTech Ventures business and its corporate venture capital fund, concentrating on the financial technology (fintech) sector. The following article explains what a venture capital business does and how the investment process at SIX works.

The Rhyme of History

30 Jun 2021 4 minutes

There are parallels, or a rhyme, between the Roaring Twenties and the 2020s, particularly with regard to widening inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth. This situation cannot be remediated by a perpetuated policy of running up debt, but is rectifiable through productivity advancements and a functioning social market economy. This is the only way to succeed in transforming our economy and society to “net zero.”

True Transformers: On the Future of Financial Services as "Enablers" in the 21st Century

02 Jun 2021 5 minutes

The foundation of tomorrow's financial industry is based on data and algorithms. Nevertheless, digitalization is not an end in itself. The basis for long-term innovation is the linking of economic and social progress. The prerequisite for this is a differentiated understanding of the opportunities and limitations of digital solutions and overarching partnerships that position financial service providers as "enablers" for innovation in the 21st century.

5 Reasons Why Financial Market Infrastructure Is in the Spotlight

05 May 2021 3 minutes

For a long time, financial market infrastructure providers (FMIs) such as SIX were considered within the financial industry as boring, something you needed to have, and never garnered much recognition. Recently, however, FMIs have been getting increasing attention within the industry. Some even say that things have changed for good. FMIs have become the new stars in the financial market industry. Here’s why.

Inspired by John Law: The End of Banking

28 Apr 2021 17 minutes

Jürg Müller from the think tank Avenir Suisse describes in our podcast how debt and the creation of money are connected. It’s a principle that economist John Law understood – and applied already 300 years ago.

Inspired by Albert Einstein: The Need for Trust

25 Mar 2021 22 minutes

In our podcast, IT economist Sita Mazumder talks about the challenge of “thinking” the future. When it comes to topics such as the digitization of customer journeys, an open mind like Albert Einstein’s could help.

Cyber security: Attackers Are the Best Form of Defense

25 Apr 2018 5 minutes

Israeli cyber security expert Keren Elazari recommends that every enterprise enlist the services of hackers. She knows what she’s talking about – she was once a hacker herself.

New Articles

How Payment-Versus-Payment Makes the Forex Market More Secure

Why Financial Literacy Is Important in One’s Early Years

Net Zero: How Are Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies Funded?

Net Zero: How Does That Actually Work?

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