The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published feedback received to its Call for Evidence on shortening the settlement cycle.
Key areas:
- Many operational impacts beyond adaptations of post-trade processes are identified as resulting from a reduction of the securities settlement cycle in the EU.
- Respondents identified a wide range of both potential costs and benefits of a shortened cycle, with some responses supporting a thorough impact assessment before deciding.
- Respondents provided suggestions around how and when a shorter settlement cycle could be achieved, with a strong demand for a clear signal from the regulatory front at the start of the work and clear coordination between regulators and the industry.
- Stakeholders made clear the need for a proactive approach to adapt their own processes to the transition to T+1 in other jurisdictions. Some responses warned about potential infringements due to the misalignment of the EU and North America settlement cycles, that ESMA is currently assessing.
Numerous comments referred to impacts on securities lending, repo and collateral, and ESMA stressed the need to assess the “appropriateness of shortening the settlement cycle and of the costs and benefits of doing so”, with outstanding questions on securities lending and borrowing, market making, and the repo market; FX trading; cross-border activities; corporate actions standards; and, benefits resulting from margin reductions for cleared transactions.
ESMA will continue assessing the responses received, including the demands for regulatory/supervisory guidance. ESMA aims at including lessons learnt from the North American move to T+1 as well as any further feedback received from stakeholders in the APAC region, from small and medium market participants and retail investors and their representatives. The EU regulatory intends to deliver its final assessment to the European Parliament and to the Council before 17 January 2025.