On Wednesday, FStech brought together senior cybersecurity professionals, financial services leaders and technology experts for its CyberSecurity Live 2026 conference, examining how the financial services industry can strengthen its defences against an increasingly complex threat landscape.

Held at the Hilton London Tower Bridge, the conference explored the evolving challenges facing financial institutions, with discussions spanning artificial intelligence (AI), software supply chain security, digital banking, Zero Trust and quantum readiness.

The programme opened with a keynote from Claire MacArthur, Head of Technology, Resilience and Cyber at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who examined the importance of operational and cyber resilience as financial institutions become increasingly interconnected.

Attendees subsequently heard from Julio Guijarro, EMEA Chief Technology Officer at Red Hat, about improving enterprise security through open-source collaboration and initiatives such as Lightwell.

A panel discussion sponsored by OpenText brought together representatives from HSBC, Allica Bank, Alvarez & Marsal and OpenText to consider how financial institutions can embed security throughout the application development lifecycle while balancing innovation with risk management.

Other sessions examined the challenges of securing digital banking at scale, with insights from former HSBC Managing Director Nadya Hijazi, and the implications of autonomous AI agents for enterprise security, presented by Matt Coppinger, Product CTO for EMEA at Omnissa.

The conference also looked towards the future of cyber defence, with a panel sponsored by Foreguard Advisory Group exploring Zero Trust, quantum readiness and the path to greater organisational resilience. The programme concluded with Ben Peet, UK/Europe CISO at Standard Chartered Bank, outlining 10 priorities for CISO teams in 2027.

Throughout the day, speakers highlighted the need for organisations to look beyond individual security controls and adopt a more joined-up approach to managing cyber risk, particularly as reliance on third-party providers, cloud infrastructure and increasingly autonomous technologies grows.

Jonathan Easton, Group Editor at FStech and chair of the conference, said: "Cybersecurity can no longer be considered in isolation from the wider operation of a financial institution."

He added that collaboration across technology, risk, operations and senior leadership would be essential to building resilience and maintaining trust as threats continue to evolve.

FStech would like to thank its conference sponsors Foreguard Advisory Group, Omnissa, OpenText, Red Hat and Utilize for their support in making CyberSecurity Live 2026 possible.

FStech's next major conference, RegTech Live, will take place on 25 February 2027 at the Hilton London Tower Bridge. Now approaching its tenth year, the event will bring together financial services professionals and industry experts to examine the latest developments in regulatory technology. To find out more and register your interest to attend click here.

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