Gearing up a new look trading ecosystem, Part 1

Fresh from a panel on Effective Industry Collaboration at InvestOps, James Pike, Taskize’s CRO and Head of Strategy, surveys the latest industry trends.

This week – part one; we set the scene and look at how clearing and settlement practices are rapidly evolving.

The entire trading lifecycle is undergoing a massive transformation, leaving financial institutions with little choice but to adapt.

Whether it is the shift to 24/5/7 trading, the pending introduction of mandatory clearing for UST cash and repo transactions, or the global transition to T+1 settlements, operations teams at banks, brokers and asset managers are bracing themselves for a busy period ahead.

Only through extensive collaboration, data standardisation, and greater adoption of workflow management platforms will the industry stand any chance of navigating these changes.

Gearing up to a "new-look trading ecosystem"

The pace of market reforms is on course to accelerate between now and 2030.

In US equity markets, the introduction of 24/5, or potentially even 24/7 trading, is inching closer, fuelled by global investor demand and evolving technology capabilities. In March 2026, CBOE Global Markets submitted a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requesting permission to start 24/5 equities trading from December 2026.

This comes not long after Nasdaq sent a similar filing to the SEC, seeking approval to launch a 23/5 trading service for equities and Exchange Traded Products (ETPs).

Once equities trading becomes 23/24/5/7, activities like market data dissemination, transaction reporting, clearing, settlements, and corporate actions processing will have to follow a change implementation programme that could prove challenging if banks, brokers and Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs) do not have the correct systems and workflows in place.

If firms do not get these processes right, it may weaken operational resilience and exacerbate some of the potential liquidity risks facing organisations when trading outside of traditional market opening hours.

Rapidly evolving -- clearing and settlement practices

Fuelled by the recent UST market volatility, the SEC is making it mandatory for firms to centrally clear their UST cash transactions from December 2026, with repos to follow in June 2027, a decision described by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) as “one of the most significant changes to the largest and most liquid market in the world.”

In settlements, the phasing in of T+1 continues to keep operations teams on high alert, especially with Swift forecasting that 70% of global trading volumes will be settling on T+1, or faster, by 2030, a sharp jump from today where that figure is closer to 35%.

For now, most firms appear to be concentrating their resources on getting ready for Europe’s October 11, 2027 deadline for T+1, an expectedly challenging task due to the sheer number of markets involved in the transition. If the industry is to keep on top of these changes, it will need to put a few measures in place first.

More of which in Part 2, next week...