Navigating Transformation: DTCC Leaders on 2025 Highlights, and What's Ahead for Financial Markets in 2026

A Year of Records and Resilience

The events of 2025 highlighted how essential robust market infrastructure is during times of elevated uncertainty. In the face of global challenges and shifting regulations, DTCC’s systems provided stability and operational resiliency, enabling markets to function efficiently despite unprecedented levels of market stress.

"2025 tested the global financial system as geopolitical tensions, trade issues and an evolving regulatory landscape amplified uncertainty across markets globally," says Frank La Salla, DTCC President and CEO.

That volatility translated into record trade activity at DTCC. Tim Cuddihy, DTCC Group Chief Risk Officer, says, "DTCC's clearinghouses and trade processing services handled record volumes, demonstrating our ability to maintain stability during periods of heightened volatility, as we have done for decades."

Capital and Liquidity Efficiencies

But handling volume is only part of the equation. The capital constraints facing market participants have become equally pressing.

"Stricter capital and margin requirements have increased the cost of holding inventory, reducing the capacity for banks to invest, lend and provide liquidity to their clients," La Salla explains.

In response, DTCC launched a capital relief program with 10 initiatives already underway. DTCC is investing in opportunities specifically designed to deliver greater capital and liquidity optimization benefits for our clients. While effective quantification of opportunities and the development of new capabilities—such as advanced sandboxing and ideation—are critical to achieving these outcomes, the primary focus remains on deploying resources toward the initiatives that deliver the most meaningful impact.

Brian Steele, DTCC President of Clearing and Securities Services, notes that the capital relief program is a direct response to the heightened capital and liquidity challenges facing clients. “By prioritizing initiatives that optimize capital usage and improve liquidity management, DTCC aims to help market participants navigate stricter requirements and continue to invest and lend effectively in today’s complex environment.”

The Digital Asset Inflection Point

If 2024 marked digital assets' deeper integration into mainstream financial conversation, then 2025 stands out as the year when infrastructure not only kept pace with ambition but actively propelled it forward.

Following the SEC’s No Action Letter, DTCC's announcement that it would offer tokenization of real-world, DTC-custodied assets signals a fundamental shift in how traditional and decentralized finance will coexist.

"2025 marked a pivotal year for DTCC as we advanced our digital asset solutions, driving innovation in market infrastructure and decentralized finance," says Nadine Chakar, Global Head of DTCC Digital Assets. "Central to this progress were initiatives in collateral mobility and tokenization."

The practical implications are significant. Through DTCC's Great Collateral Experiment, the organization demonstrated how distributed ledger technology could unlock billions in inactive assets—a proof point that resonated across an industry grappling with capital efficiency.

La Salla views this as part of DTCC's broader strategic positioning: "I'm pleased to see the industry aligning to drive digital asset acceptance, adoption and utilization. As we look to 2026, DTCC will continue to serve as a strategic partner to the industry by fostering collaboration to build an open, scalable and efficient ecosystem for tokenized assets."

Technology as Competitive Imperative

The demands of record volumes, real-time processing, and emerging asset classes have made technology modernization non-negotiable. For DTCC, that means accelerating cloud migration and embracing AI.

"Modernization remains central to our mission as we continue our multi-year transformation to strengthen and advance our technology platform," says Lynn Bishop, DTCC Chief Information Officer. "To enhance scalability, resiliency and operational efficiency, we continue moving more services to the public cloud, including our most critical clearance and settlement applications."

AI, in particular, continues to become an even more essential force to achieve operational efficiency. "We've begun the process of leveraging the power of AI agents and coding tools to help us drive efficiency and operational resiliency," Bishop notes. "Every AI initiative we pursue is grounded in purpose and responsible governance, and we are already seeing measurable productivity gains while maintaining oversight and control."

This technological evolution extends to how market participants access and use data. Tim Lind, Managing Director of DTCC Data Services, sees a fundamental shift underway: "In 2026, the volume, complexity, and speed of market data will surge as new technologies reshape the landscape, making the ability to convert raw data into actionable intelligence more critical than ever."

The opportunity, Lind argues, is significant: "For decades, the industry has operated in an environment where data fragmentation, manual intervention and inconsistent standards create barriers to efficiency and insight. At DTCC, we are reimagining the future of market data—leveraging automation, AI and emerging technologies to deliver accurate, timely and actionable information."

Regulatory Change as Catalyst

Two regulatory shifts loom large over 2026: the continued implementation of U.S. Treasury clearing requirements and Europe's preparation for T+1 settlement.

"The U.S. Treasury clearing rules represent one of the most significant market structure shifts in decades," notes Laura Klimpel, Managing Director, Head of DTCC's Fixed Income and Financing Solutions. The industry's response has been decisive—FICC's Sponsored Service daily volume peaked at $2.8 trillion on December 1, "delivering over $1.3 trillion in balance sheet capacity for the industry on the same day."

New capabilities are following. "At the end of 2025, we launched our new Collateral-in-Lieu service under the Sponsored General Collateral offering," Klimpel says. "The service was developed to address double-margining concerns while delivering significant margin and capital efficiencies."

Across the Atlantic, market participants face their own deadline. Val Wotton, DTCC Global Head of Equities Solutions, says 2026 will be a “critical year” for Europe's transition to T+1 settlement.

“The 2024 move to T+1 in the U.S. provides insights for a successful transition,” said Wotton, “but Europe's fragmented market structure creates unique challenges."

The prescription is clear, according to Wotton: "Successful T+1 preparation across the region demands automation. Manual interventions and bottlenecks in post-trade processes need to be addressed to enable same-day trade allocation and confirmation."

Beyond settlement cycles, DTCC is also supporting the industry’s plans to move to extend trading hours in the US equity market. "Global markets are undergoing huge transformations, with major exchanges actively exploring 24x5 trading," Wotton notes. "From Q2 2026, DTCC's equities clearing subsidiary will increase clearing hours, subject to regulatory review and approval."

Michele Hillery, DTCC Head of Repository and Derivatives Services, highlights a critical yet often underappreciated aspect of regulatory change—data quality in the derivatives space. She emphasizes, "Financial institutions will be conducting impact analyses of their current processes, as multiple regulators introduce proposals for simplification and burden reduction. These evolving initiatives are set to drive firms to further modernize their data and reporting infrastructures, particularly within derivatives markets."

Hillery’s remarks underscore that, while broader market transformations such as 24x5 trading and settlement cycles are underway, derivatives market participants face distinct challenges and opportunities tied to regulatory shifts specifically impacting their data management and reporting obligations.

Wealth Management's Structural Shift

While markets navigate regulatory and technological change, wealth management faces its own convergence of forces.

"We are seeing structural trends continue to converge: accelerated growth in private markets, heightened demand for seamless digital experiences, and the continued evolution of the wealth ecosystem due to shifting demographics," says Talia Klein, Head of Wealth Management Services.

Specific developments are driving this shift: "The approval of the ETF dual share class model, the growth in guaranteed income products, and the desire for expanded access to alternative assets are creating significant momentum."

DTCC's response focuses on infrastructure modernization. "Upcoming enhancements to Fund/SERV will integrate ETF and mutual fund processing, ultimately reducing cycle times and enabling real-time data sharing," Klein explains. "This is one important example of our commitment to advancing the infrastructure that empowers firms to innovate with confidence."

Looking Ahead

As market participants plan for 2026, the risk landscape demands attention. DTCC's Systemic Risk Barometer shows geopolitical instability as the top concern for the fourth consecutive year, with AI and cyber threats rising.

"The global risk landscape is entering a phase where stress points like geopolitical shocks, liquidity fragmentation, and emerging technologies are intersecting in unpredictable ways," Cuddihy says.

Adds Cuddihy, "The pace of change and evolving exposures requires all market participants to have a robust and forward-looking risk and controls assessment framework to measure and mitigate these in line with each firm's risk appetite. Risk management must continue to be a proactive discipline, rather than a defensive function."

As firms consider how to adapt to this evolving risk environment, attention is also turning to the operational challenges created by market structure and technological change.

"The post-trade landscape is shifting fast,” added Rebecca Ashton, Head of DTCC Consulting. “Organizations are under pressure to modernize while managing tighter margins. The question isn't whether to act, but what to prioritize."

With so many forces converging—Treasury clearing, accelerated settlement, extended trading hours, AI adoption, tokenization—how should firms prioritize?

Ashton’s view is that the winners will be those who rethink back-office operations entirely: "Those who can transform their back-office infrastructure from a cost center into a competitive advantage will be best positioned to navigate what's ahead."