4th annual operational excellence in financial services

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB">The Middle Eastern banking & financial sector is facing newer challenges in terms of narrowing spreads, new banking products and players and mergers and acquisitions. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB">Change is the only constant factor in the dynamic arena of banking & finance. The elemental essence of how people bank in the region is undergoing rapid transformation, pushing the segment towards efficiency of operations, reduced operating margins, better asset/liability management, even promising any time and any where banking.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB">All these changes call for a new, more dynamic, aggressive and challenging work culture to meet the demands of customer relationships, product differentiation, brand values, reputation, corporate governance and regulatory prescriptions.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB">Shefiu Ismael, Conference Producer at <b style=""><i style="">Fleming Gulf</i></b> quotes “<i style="">The main challenges faced by Middle Eastern banking are the role of financial instrumentation in different phases of the business cycle, the emerging compulsions of the new prudential norms and benchmarking the regional financial system against international standards and best practices while protecting the falling margins due to the impact of competition. Analysing the vast diversity in the size of the institutions and asset liability profiles as well, it becomes very difficult for a few of them to meet the new benchmark of global standards.</i>”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB">The <b style="">4<sup>th</sup> Annual Achieving Operational Excellence Forum</b>, houses senior executives with regional and international expertise, who will highlight the rigours and significance of keeping with the times, indicate the role of effective service quality, identify methods of not just keeping your head above the water, but your feet firmly on the ground with the rising competition in the sector. Other key areas would include detecting methods of enhancing productivity, managing the concept of perpetual change and the implications on operations, indicative technologies driving operational excellence and the ever pressing concern of customer retention and the attitudes towards customer service within the institution.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on"><b style=""><i style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB">Fleming</span></i></b></st1:placename><b style=""><i style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB"> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Gulf</st1:placetype></span></i></b></st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB"> provides a unique opportunity to hear success stories, analyse case studies and discuss concerns with the industry leaders. The fourth instalment picks up where the third annual event left off, with the emphasis on business & service excellence and the outlook of the impending radical change that will engulf and change the way the Middle Easterners bank.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB">In the current scenario where change is invisible, it is not enough if a bank intends to change </span></i><b style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB">with</span></b><i style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB"> the change, but they will have to </span></i><b style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB">aggressively</span></b><i style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB"> change </span></i><b style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB">before</span></b><i style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';" lang="EN-GB"> the change.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>