Brussels - 13 June 2014 - Mike Fish, Chief Information Officer and Head of Information Technology and Operations, has made the decision to retire after 15 years at Swift.
He will be stepping down on 31 January 2015, allowing for a smooth and orderly transition. Swift is to initiate a comprehensive assessment exercise to identify and appoint his successor, which will be conducted on both an internal and external basis.
"Our infrastructure is in better shape than ever, as evidenced by our strong operational record," said Gottfried Leibbrandt, CEO of Swift. "I am extremely grateful to Mike for his contribution to the business in this demanding role. He has steered this important function through an extended period of intense change, meeting a number of key new technological challenges while always maintaining consistent operational excellence and ensuring we never veered away from our core FNAO mission.
"Mike has built a highly-skilled and professional team, which I am confident will continue to uphold the tradition of excellence and achievement that has been the hallmark of his leadership. I look forward to continue working with Mike over the coming months, ahead of what will be a very well-deserved retirement. It has been both a pleasure and an honour to work with him, and I will miss him both as a colleague and as an outstanding CIO."
Mike Fish joined Swift in 1999 from US telecom firm Ameritech, where he held various senior management positions in IT. He was appointed Chief Information Officer at Swift in July 2006, since when he has been responsible for overseeing important transformation projects such as the SwiftNet messaging platform migration and the construction and go-live of our new operating centre in Switzerland (OPC CH). During his tenure he has also led the development and launch of a number of new commercial services, including Swift's Lite2 connectivity option, the sanctions screening service and the TARGET2-Securities (T2S) European securities settlement engine project
"It has been a privilege to hold this position for the past several years, leading an ever expanding and ever more accomplished team of professionals," said Mike Fish. "Over the time I have been here, volumes and users have grown consistently; our services and functionalities have increased; and the challenges and complexities have multiplied.
Throughout, Swift has stayed true to its core and I look forward to passing the baton on to my successor, safe in the knowledge that this function will continue to flourish.”
About Swift
Swift is a member-owned cooperative that provides the communications platform, products and services to connect more than 10,000 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in 212 countries and territories. Swift enables its users to exchange automated, standardised financial information securely and reliably, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating operational inefficiencies. Swift also brings the financial community together to work collaboratively to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest.
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