The EU’s capital market is fragmented, but the solution isn’t to completely change it. Lidia Kurt, CEO of Börse Stuttgart’s Seturion will share her unique take on tokenisation at the upcoming PostTrade 360° conference. Join her in the session titled “Today’s state of trading and issuance with digital assets” on 3 September.

“We at Seturion believe that trading itself doesn’t need to change. The many trading venues across Europe can retain their existing infrastructure and licences. What’s needed is a true pan-European post-trade layer to address the fragmentation of Europe’s capital markets and make issuance and settlement infrastructure more efficient. Technology can overcome this fragmentation by connecting all these trading venues to a unified settlement infrastructure,” says Kurt.

At Seturion, this change carries a vision of a single pan-European layer that will simplify the issuance and settlement of tokenised securities. Kurt explains, “If we bring assets on tokenised rails, we are able to bring much more efficient post-trading to Europe.”

It also carries with it the possibility of a greater transformation – movement away from the central custody model. Kurt acknowledges that such a significant shift in custody infrastructure could be a double-edged sword. “With new technologies, there is always a risk of disruption. But we have to understand that players in the post trade business are able to shape the future themselves. The opportunity is there; it just takes the willingness to act on it.”

For the transformation to be a big opportunity for the EU, timing is important. “Currently, there is immense momentum in the US to bring securities on tokenised rails,” says Kurt. She pointed out that the Depository Trust Company (DTC) has made efforts to connect traditional custody rails to DLT networks. The stablecoin space is also seeing US dollar dominance “of 98%”.

“This is something Europe has a real opportunity to build on. We need to make use of the momentum that is out there and ensure that our systems are ready for the future as well.”

• For more information about the PostTrade 360° conference happening on 2-3 September 2026 and to register, click here