Banking Summit

Banking Summit is a focused annual conference on the strategic and operational management of banks in the CEE and Central European region, gathering senior banking leadership and executive teams for a programme oriented around the practical priorities facing regional banking management. It sits alongside Bank Management Conference, Non‑financial Risk Management Summit and Nordic Banking Forum as calendar anchors for the same audiences.

What happens

The programme combines plenary sessions on banking strategy and macro context with parallel tracks on core banking modernisation, risk management, regulatory technology, operational resilience, cybersecurity, digital channel strategy and the increasingly central role of AI in banking operations. Executive-level closed sessions feature alongside the main agenda. The conference is strategic rather than vendor-driven, with content oriented toward the decisions facing senior banking management. Networking is concentrated in structured executive receptions and small-group dinners characteristic of senior CEE banking circles.

Who attends

The audience is unusually senior: CEOs and executive committee members from CEE and Central European banks, chief technology, digital, risk and operations officers, and senior business-line leadership from across the bank. Vendor presence is meaningful but secondary to the executive audience, and is concentrated in strategic technology, consulting and regulatory technology providers serving regional banking transformation. The geography is heavily Austrian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Polish and Romanian.

Dominant themes

The regional banking management agenda emphasises the practical priorities facing CEE banking leadership: the increasingly complex regulatory environment under DORA, the third capital requirements directive (CRD VI), and the EU AI Act, the role of operational resilience and cybersecurity in regulatory compliance, asset and liability management under shifting interest-rate environments, the strategic positioning of regional banks against fintech and embedded-finance competition, the operating realities of digital channel strategy across CEE markets, and the role of AI across banking operations. ESG banking, climate-risk integration and sustainability disclosure feature consistently.

Planning to attend

Vienna is well-connected by air to most European hubs and is among the more accessible Central European conference cities. Hotel supply is plentiful and the central district is walkable to most venues used over recent editions. The senior audience profile means after-hours and small-group time is unusually high-value; combine main-conference attendance with sponsored receptions and dinners. The conference language is English with regional language considerations.

Use the expense calculator below to estimate the total cost of attending — registration, flights, hotels, meals, and ground transport.