Building the Next Chapter of Market Infrastructure

At SIFMA Ops 2026, DTCC CEO Frank La Salla spoke about the critical role that market infrastructures play in providing financial stability as well as the trust capital they’ve built by leading some of the most significant changes to market structure in decades. Vital Speeches of the Day, a highly respected publication that was founded in 1934 and features the full text of speeches from influential leaders in politics, business, economics and international affairs, republished the remarks in its September 2026 issue. La Salla’s speech appears along speeches from former President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and President Emmanuel Marcon of France, among others.

Below are five key takeaways from La Salla’s speech, titled “Trust Capital: The Most important Asset.”

Trust is the industry’s most important currency.

The foundation of the global financial system is built on trust. Market infrastructures have earned that trust over many years by protecting market stability and investors through periods of change. DTCC has ensured sound markets for the participants who rely on the firm’s services. As the industry pursues the next set of industry priorities together, it will leverage its trust capital to improve settlement, expand market access, advance digital assets and apply AI responsibly.

The move to T+1 proved the industry can deliver positive change.

The successful move to T+1 in the U.S. showed what the industry can achieve when it is aligned. It was a herculean effort and success because firms, regulators and market infrastructure providers stayed coordinated on meeting the same goal. T+1 proved that with rigorous preparation, partnership and discipline, the industry can modernize the markets while maintaining their safety and reliability.

Modern markets need more access, but not more unnecessary risk.

Markets are moving faster with investors and firms wanting more access, flexibility and the ability to trade beyond traditional market hours. Speed and access only matter if the market remains strong, resilient and trusted. DTCC’s mandate is to innovate for the capital markets and enable them to move faster and work better with the right safeguards in place.

 DTCC’s value is expanding to business impact.

As a trusted steward, DTCC is known for its reliability and seamless execution of transformational industry initiatives. As a result, DTCC’s role is expanding as stakeholders’ needs and expectations rise. DTCC has sharpened its focus on helping clients reduce friction, optimize capital and liquidity usage and create more capacity for commercial growth. That is where infrastructure can have a meaningful business impact. Clients need an infrastructure that helps them solve complex operational challenges so they can focus on accomplishing their’ strategic goals.

The future will depend on connecting the traditional and digital markets.

Digital assets, tokenization and AI represent the future of the capital markets. Though these new technologies will transform securities trading, the true opportunity is connecting these tools to the existing systems and standards that enable secure and efficient markets. Innovation delivers value when it enhances infrastructure that already functions well and can scale successfully across the market. DTCC’s role is to help make the connection between today’s trusted infrastructure and tomorrow’s financial market easier, safer and more productive for everyone.

Read Frank La Salla’s full SIFMA Ops 2026 speech here