In a quarter where equity markets reached all time high valuations in October, in the same month off the street investors lined up for physical Gold Bullion at all time high prices and then nosed dived 8% in a day, and one of the big four consultants were caught out in their use of AI! It’s been a crazy few months.
At Suite2Go we had an extremely busy quarter, we were out and about at various events both here and overseas and hosted some clients in Australia and Asia as well as meeting some great new global and Australian Fintechs at Fintech Australia’s annual Intersekt conference in Melbourne in September.
What’s new!
Off the back of a busy conference period, we are talking to lots of new fintechs looking to break into the Australian financial services markets – watch this space next quarter for some exciting announcements.
Conferences and Events
At Suite2Go we believe staying ahead of the curve and being able to share knowledge and learned experience as an industry is extremely important. Conferences are important for their role in fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing, and networking. They can generate significant revenue for businesses and provide valuable learning and professional development opportunities for attendees. We often run webinars and roundtables for our clients, as they offer distinct yet complementary benefits. Webinars excel at reaching large audiences, providing convenient learning opportunities, and fostering interaction through live Q&A and polls, while also allowing for recording and on-demand access. Roundtables, on the other hand, prioritise in-depth engagement, active listening, and breaking down hierarchies, fostering open discussion and collaboration, especially for senior executives and decision makers.
It was a busy few months for all of us at Suite2Go we attended 7 events over the period, below is a sneak peek and highlights from each of them…….
Intersekt Conference – Melbourne Australia
Our Co-CEO Leanne Bradley and newest member of our Payment Foundry and Suite2Go team Mahesh Narayan went along to Fintech Australia’s Intersekt Conference
Both Leanne and Mahesh were speakers at separate Round Tables at the conference. Leanne presented at a round table run by UK British Consulate-General. While Mahesh was involved in a payments round table run by CBA.
You can read all about Mahesh’s experience at the conference in his LinkedIn Blog and Leanne’s highlights in the links below.
Alternatives Foundation – Family Office and IMAP Conference – Sydney Australia
Leanne our Co-CEO was at the Sydney Alternatives Investment Week Family office and Wealth showcase on 23rd September. Technology was a key theme with analysts talking about how AI is totally replacing some services like stock images for example: Shutter stock, and Getty images.
While the governments Future Fund – is actively investing in Tech in their PE and VC and looking at AI buyout opportunities.
The afternoon was held by Institute of Managed Account Professionals (IMAP) where the talk was about the continual growth in managed accounts now tracking at about $1bn a month!
One session also talked about the importance of adaptive rebalancing of portfolios which requires a data feed from the platforms to rebalance and how technologies can include non-custody assets. This is important as 30-40% of clients’ portfolios do not sit well within an SMA. Therefore, there is a need to run many tailored portfolios, but advisers can only scale if they adopt the right technology systems. Our vendor partner @Chelmer is one of those systems that can help with this growing trend of personalised portfolios at scale.
SIBOS – Frankfurt
Our cofounders John Ryan and Camilla Bullockattended the Sibos conference in Frankfurt.
First week of October, Suite2Go attended SIBOS 2025 in Frankfurt, the world’s leading financial services conference bringing together over 10,000 of the brightest minds in banking, fintech, and payments. This year will be remembered as the moment SWIFT formally stepped into blockchain and digital currency, marking a historic shift for global financial infrastructure. For fintechs, SIBOS remains one of the best opportunities to connect directly with senior leaders across global banking and payments. The Innotribe Perfect Pitch competition again showcased emerging talent — with three Irish firms taking top honours, highlighting Ireland’s growing role in global fintech innovation. While standards and digital currency were key themes, the real spotlight was on AI — from AI agents to general AI — and how the industry can build a strong, transparent governance model for this next wave of transformation. Having been to Beijing last year, the energy in Frankfurt was uplifting — signalling renewed optimism and collaboration across the sector. Next year, the journey continues to Miami, where we expect an even greater focus on stablecoins and tech innovation in the U.S.
ISDA Conference – Sydney Australia
Andrew King one of our Principal consultants representing Kaizen Reporting one our vendor partners sponsored and attended the annual ISDA conference in Sydney on 21st October. Andrew was joined by Trevor Evans fromm Kaizen.
ASFA Investment Summit – Brisbane Australia
Andrew King also attended the ASFA Investment Summit in Brisbane in September. The conference covered a wide range of topics and themes, focusing on the challenges and opportunities within the investment industry. Key discussions included the inefficiencies in regulation and the need for faster, more accountable investment decisions. Many presenters emphasized the importance of outcomes for members, the constraints faced by the industry, and the role of culture and clarity within teams. The conference also highlighted the significance of global offices and the integration of AI and data platforms to enhance decision-making processes.
Another major theme was the future of markets and macroeconomic conditions, with experts discussing the extraordinary volatility and geopolitical risks, particularly in the US. The importance of a total portfolio approach and the operational challenges of private markets were also addressed. The conference featured insights on governing investment decisions, with a focus on strategic asset allocation, governance, and the evolving models as funds grow.
Breakout sessions delved into topics like liquidity management, exposure management, and the role of AI in reshaping the investment process, emphasizing the need for dynamic and responsive strategies.
Client news
We look to work with vendors that are addressing a gap or need in the financial services market, whether it be addressing a regulatory requirement, streamlining a very manual process that requires scale or something innovative that no one else is doing and can add valuable insights.
This quarter our Derivative Reporting Solution product Kaizenwas signed on by one of Australia’s largest domestic banks as well as by an Australian broking house.
We also had Andy Robertson Chelmer’s Chief Product and Innovation Officer in Sydney on 12th and 13thNovember to meet up with some existing clients as well as meet with others in the wealth industry to talk about their needs in portfolio management, rebalancing and reporting for SMAs and MDAs.
Regulatory News
Shaping the Future of Digital Asset Regulation
During October, Payments Foundry contributed to a major submission to the Australian Treasury’s consultation on “Regulating Digital Asset Platforms – Exposure Draft Legislation”, representing one of our global clients, active in wholesale settlement infrastructure.
Globally, regulators are now converging on how to supervise digital asset markets without stifling innovation – a trend that has been re-envigored since introduction of the US Genius Act earlier this year.
Organisations wanting to be a part of a payments submission should get in touch with www.PaymentsFoundry.co
Recent ASIC reviews include:
ASIC review of SMSF advice quality (Nov 2025) – ASIC’s latest thematic review of self-managed super fund advice found a high rate of files not meeting best-interest duties and identified “serious harm” risks to retirement savings, flagging more scrutiny for advisers and licensees dealing in SMSFs. ASIC
ASIC push to tighten wholesale investor / wholesale fund settings (early Nov 2025) – ASIC has proposed raising the financial thresholds for ‘wholesale clients’ and increasing regulation of wholesale funds, leaning on Treasury’s managed investment scheme review and a 2024 Parliamentary inquiry; this could materially shrink who qualifies as wholesale and bring more products effectively into a retail-style protection envelope.
APRA news
APRA gave an October 2025 update on its review of governance prudential standards (CPS/SPS 510 Governance, CPS/SPS 520 Fit and Proper, SPS 521 Conflicts of Interest), refining proposals on director tenure, independence and conflicts management after industry feedback. Draft revised standards are now flagged for consultation in 2026. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra-revises-governance-proposals-following-industry-consultation
APRA published its 2025–26 Corporate Plan, signalling lighter but more targeted regulation The Corporate Plan (Aug 2025) flags: implementing CPS 230 (operational risk), strengthening governance standards, upping cyber and crisis-preparedness supervision, and also reducing red tape via more proportionate rules and lower capital requirements for some annuities. https://www.apra.gov.au/apra-corporate-plan-2025-26
APRA also indicated structural changes to the banking regulatory framework In public comments and media coverage tied to its new approach, APRA has foreshadowed a move from a two-tier to a three-tier banking regime to ease regulatory burden on smaller banks while keeping higher expectations on systemic institutions. https://www.apra.gov.au/news-and-publications/apra’s-plans-to-support-small-and-medium-sized-banks
This past quarter has been more about Regulatory consultations, refinements and signalling than brand-new “big bang” prudential standards going live.
Fintech news and market activity
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, global fintech funding in Q3 2025 was about US$8.85 billion, showing year-over-year growth and deal activity picking up (423 deals, up from 360 a year ago) with the winners being AI, and Stable coin. https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/research/2025/10/ai-agents-stablecoins-shine-in-q3-2025-fintech-funding
According to FT Partners, 2025 is on track to be the most active year ever for fintech M&A (with approximately 1,350 deals recorded by end of Q3)
In contrast, the Australian market saw fintech investments drop sharply: in Q2 2025 investment in Australian fintechs fell almost 65% year-on-year to A$166.2 m.
https://www.ftpartners.com/fintech-strategic-insights/almanac
In other news Cboe announced the sale of it’s Australian business a mont after being granted its listing approval by ASIC. https://www.asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2025-releases/25-261mr-cboe-global-markets-decision/
Automic Group (Australia/NZ registry & fund-admin fintech) was acquired by Advent International in a deal valued at A$725 million.
Upcoming events
This week is the Singapore Fintech festival where almost 60,000 gather to talk about the latest trends in Fintech and Payments Camilla Bulllock will be there along with some of our clients and partners. We will provide a summary in our next newsletter.
The Payments Foundry team will be at AusPayNet Summit on Tuesday 16th December, be sure to look out for them if you are going.