Legendary US baseball player, Yogi Berra, once said ‘it’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future’. Fortunately, we have persuaded a stellar panel of speakers to dust off their crystal balls and discuss what next year will have in store for Europe’s central securities depositories. In the panel titled “Zooming in on Europe’s CSD industry – what’s up for 2026” at the upcoming PostTrade 360° 2025 conference, regulators, industry bodies, market infrastructures, and CSDs will ponder the likely impact of topics ranging from T+1 to the Savings and Investment Union (SIU).
“When I talk to the DTCC about their experience of T+1, they tell me the single most important element was making sure the whole market was with them,” says Philip Brown, CEO of Clearstream Banking S.A.. “In Europe, some of the prerequisites (such as pre-matching) are already in place, but we need to consider the needs of non-European investors invested in European markets.”
Change in mindset
There is general agreement that Europe’s capital markets require greater liquidity to remain attractive to issuers. The challenge lies in encouraging investors to move into longer-term savings products like equities or equity-backed funds, when many European investors are in money market funds or bonds.
“A lot of work needs to be done in terms of investment education and to acknowledge the fact that holding equities is a critical part of long-term saving,” says Brown.
T2S needs better uptake
On the post-trade side, he says a single access point will help clients smooth over some of the complexity and cost burden of a fragmented European market, particularly after the introduction of enhancements to T2S in June.
“We’re in a unique position in Europe in that we have a single settlement system covering 27 markets,” adds Brown. “However, T2S is underutilised as a cross-border platform and we are only now starting to see some of the big broker dealers really looking at it seriously. My takeaway would be to take another look at what T2S could do for you.”
He will also encourage session participants to think about the Eurobond market as something of a jewel in Europe’s capital market infrastructure as the most successful cross-border fixed income fundraising market in the world.
Have you signed up yet to be in Stockholm for PostTrade 360° 2025 on 3–4 September? It’s free for securities operations pros, both trading and investor sides! (Vendor firm representatives need a sponsorship agreement.) The powerful event website lets you register, see all other delegates, schedule sessions and meetings, and message. Find all related articles, including loads of teaser interviews, here.
