The post-trade landscape is shifting fast. Whether firms are preparing for T+1 settlement and 24x5 trading or exploring AI and tokenisation, they are under pressure to modernise while continuing to operate under increasingly tight margins.
The question isn't whether to act, but what to prioritise.
Here are five critical areas that I’ll be focusing on with clients, and that we believe will have a significant impact on the post-trade landscape in 2026.
1. Navigating T+1 Across Europe’s Complex Market Structure
With the U.S. successfully moving to T+1 in 2024, Europe is now preparing for its own transition – an essential step toward reducing risk and enhancing market competitiveness. By 2028, an estimated 85% of global trades will settle one day after execution.
Europe’s path is more complex. The UK, EU member states, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein must navigate a web of processing timelines, tax regimes, business models, and legal frameworks across 27 countries and more than 30 CSDs. Our data suggests that further investment is required by firms, especially around Fixed Income, where almost 17% of our trade volumes are not matched on T.
The race for faster settlement cycles is on. Realising the full benefits of T+1 will depend on quick identification of problem areas, careful planning, strong stakeholder coordination, and rigorous, end-to-end testing to ensure a smooth and safe transition.
2. Expanded Central Clearing for U.S. Treasuries
The SEC extended the deadlines for expanded central clearing of U.S. Treasuries to December 31, 2026 for cash transactions and June 30, 2027 for repos. The additional time was welcomed, as the new rules represent a major shift in market structure and require significant legal, operational, and system changes for firms to comply.
U.S. Treasuries are the largest and most liquid sovereign debt market in the world and a cornerstone of global finance, so the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Firms will need to set up new clearing arrangements and overhaul margin, trading, and settlement processes. Understanding the regulatory changes, designing new operating models, managing onboarding, and adopting new clearing workflows will be critical to meeting the SEC’s deadlines.
3. Bridging TradFi and DeFi Ecosystems
Digital assets and decentralised finance (DeFi) are moving into the mainstream and increasingly being discussed alongside traditional finance (TradFi).
While DTCC’s work with distributed ledger technology is helping to pave the way toward convergence, challenges need to be addressed before DeFi can be fully integrated into regulated TradFi environments.
It's an exciting new world of possibilities – building secure, scalable systems and embracing innovations such as interoperable digital wallets, tokenised assets, and blockchain based solutions. The opportunity lies in creating practical, compliant bridges between two fundamentally different financial ecosystems.
4. Empowering Global Investors with 24x5 Trading
As global demand and regulatory momentum grow, the industry is moving toward a model where U.S. equity trading could operate nearly around the clock, five days a week.
A 24x5 framework would give market participants continuous access to liquidity and the ability to respond to global events and manage risk outside traditional trading hours.
While the shift to 24x5 trading presents meaningful opportunities, it also introduces new operational and risk management challenges. This structural evolution will require strong industry coordination, robust safeguards, and thoughtful planning to ensure a stable and efficient transition.
5. Efficient and Compliant Global Regulatory Reporting
Over the past three years, global regulators have introduced a flurry of trade and transaction reporting reforms focused on simplification, harmonisation, and the adoption of standardised data elements.
As the pace of change becomes more manageable, firms must shift from reactive compliance to proactively improving efficiency – aligning their processes, teams, and operating models to meet these evolving requirements and rising regulatory expectations.
Ready to transform your post-trade operations? At DTCC Consulting, we’re continually enhancing our solutions to help firms meet their challenges with confidence.
If you’re looking to strengthen your post trade capabilities in 2026 and beyond, get in touch or visit our website to learn more about how we can help support your transformation: https://www.dtcc.com/consulting-services