The EU T+1 Industry Committee, in collaboration with market research firm The ValueExchange, has recently published its latest T+1 Readiness Survey. The study gives a comprehensive picture of the current state of preparation within the EU for T+1.

1030 industry members participated in the survey, representing voices from varied segments including asset management, investment banking, custodians, insurers, and CSDs. The study had a global reach, attracting respondents from Europe, North America, APAC, Africa, and the Middle East.

Ready or not

Findings reveal that by the end of 2025, about two years to the transition in October 2027, 77% of respondents are already actively engaged in T+1 preparation. This puts the EU’s progress two years faster than that of the US, where the percentage of active engagement only reached the 70s in the year of transition.

30% of industry recommendations have already been implemented, with 53% of respondents indicating that their firms are planning to develop a formal implementation plan in 2026.

Engagement, however, is concentrated in Europe, with 30% of respondents from North America and Asia claiming that they see no need to plan for T+1 in Europe.

When the going gets tough

Industry members appear unanimous on the core challenges of T+1 – automation in their own firms, and dependency on their ecosystem partners. Both factors garnered votes from 58% of respondents. Drilling down, more than 50% of respondents from almost every region are worried about dependencies on service providers.

More than two thirds of respondents see provider and counterparty readiness as challenges in securities financing and FX. This sentiment is especially strongly felt by brokers and custodians. Meanwhile, for more than two thirds of wealth managers, banks, and CCPs, T+1 is seen as an automation challenge.

Main concern

64% of respondents indicated that they intend to keep to core processing timelines for T+1.

Post-transition, cash breaches appear to be a major concern. 35% of respondents believe that long-cash breaches will become “a critical concern”, with larger fund managers being the most worried. 39% of asset managers predicted that cash breaches will become a weekly occurrence on T+1.