T+1 Accelerated
Settlement FAQs

Following the shortening of the settlement cycle in the U.S., Canada and Mexico in May 2024, the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA), the U.K. and Switzerland have all confirmed their intention to transition to T+1 settlement on October 11, 2027.

There are clear benefits to doing so, including the earlier availability of securities and cash for buyers and sellers, lower credit risk and a reduction in the amount of margin that needs to be deposited with central counterparties (CCPs).

The impact of a shortened settlement cycle will clearly have a significant impact on pre- and post-trade activities of market infrastructure, market participants and everyone along the custody chain. Stakeholders will need to review and assess their operating models, processing activities and technical capabilities.

In the U.K., the Accelerated Settlement Taskforce (AST) was established to assess the case for the transition to T+1. The taskforce is composed of representatives of trading, clearing and settlement entities, custodians, registrars, investment managers, brokers, law firms, consultancies and numerous intermediaries from the U.K. market. Some industry associations are members of the AST as well, including U.K. financial regulatory bodies (as observers). These associations include the European Association of CCP Clearing Houses (EACH), the European Central Securities Depositories Association (ECSDA) and the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).

The AST is composed of an Oversight Committee, five main workstreams (Operations, Alignment, Trading & Liquidity, Lessons from the U.S. move, Legal & regulatory), and 13 sub-streams.

BNY is represented on the Oversight Committee as well as in the various workstreams and sub-streams.

In the EU, a governance structure has been established by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB) in order to ensure that a proper evaluation is conducted because of the number of member states as well as the fact that there are multiple trading venues, central counterparties, central securities depositories and central banks.

The governance structure includes the EU’s T+1 Coordination Committee, T+1 Industry Committee and 12 technical workstreams responsible for specific topics. The workstreams are: Scope; Legal & Regulatory; Trading; Matching & Confirmation; Clearing; Settlement; FX; Securities Financing Transactions; Asset Management; Settlement Efficiency; Corporate Events; and Operational Timetable. Each workstream has two co-leads.

The T+1 Coordination Committee is mainly composed of representatives of EU authorities (ESMA, ECB, European Commission, National Competent Authorities, etc.), while the T+1 Industry Committee is composed of representatives of industry associations and the workstream co-leads, with the EU authorities present as observers. The Independent Chair of the T+1 Industry Committee ensures the flow of communication between the two committees.

Roberto De Paolis, Direct Markets Director at BNY, is the co-lead of the Scope workstream and has a seat on the T+1 Industry Committee. BNY is also represented in all 12 workstreams and the related taskforces. Three of them have analysed the Standard Settlement Instructions (SSI), the Partial Settlement and the Securities Financing Transactions settlement optimization.

In Switzerland, The Swiss Securities Post-Trade Council (swissSPTC) has taken care of analysing the transition to T+1. It is composed of representatives of the Swiss value chain in the Swiss financial sector and has organized the work on the transition around six dedicated workstreams addressing operational processes, international alignment, liquidity management, legal and regulatory considerations, lessons learned from the North American move, and stakeholder communication. 

The following markets are transitioning to T+1 on October 11, 2027:

• The 27 Member States of the European Union: Austria (EUR), Belgium (EUR), Bulgaria (EUR from January 1, 2026), Croatia (EUR), Cyprus (EUR), Czech Republic (CZK), Denmark (DKK) , Estonia (EUR), Finland (EUR), France (EUR), Germany (EUR), Greece (EUR), Hungary (HUF), Ireland (EUR), Italy (EUR), Latvia (EUR), Lithuania (EUR), Luxembourg (EUR), Malta (EUR), the Netherlands (EUR), Poland (PLN), Portugal (EUR), Romania (RON), Slovakia (EUR), Slovenia (EUR), Spain (EUR) and Sweden (SEK);
• European Economic Area, which includes the 27 Member States of the European Union as well as: Iceland (ISK and Norway (NOK);
• The U.K. (GBP); and
• Switzerland (CHF) and Liechtenstein (CHF).

The Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR) is the regulation that defines the settlement cycle. It is an EU regulation that introduces measures for the authorization and regulation of the EEA’s CSDs (central securities depositories). Article 5.2 refers to “the intended settlement date shall be no later than on the second business day after the trading takes place.” This provision will change in both the EU CSDR and U.K. CSDR to read “the intended settlement date shall be no later than on the first business day after the trading takes place.”

The Scope workstream of the T+1 Industry Committee (co-led by BNY) has defined the recommended scope of the T+1 settlement cycle in CSDR Art. 1 and Art. 5.2 as applying to “transactions in transferable securities traded on an EU trading venue and settling in an EU-registered CSD.” A similar concept applies to the U.K. CSDR.

The following transaction categories are already excluded from the application of the EU and U.K. CSDR:

• Transactions which are negotiated privately but executed on a trading venue;
• Transactions which are executed bilaterally but reported to a trading venue; and
• The first transaction where the transferable securities concerned are subject to initial recording in book-entry form.

The EU authorities have decided to  exempt the following Securities Financing Transactions (SFTs), provided they are documented as single transactions composed of two linked operations:

• Securities lending or securities borrowing as defined in Art. 3 (7) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2365 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
• Buy-sell back transactions or sell-buy back transactions as defined in Art. 3 (8) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2365; and
• Repurchase transactions as defined in Art. 3 (9) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2365

The main expected benefits for the industry and clients are as follows:

• Buyers and sellers will receive their cash or securities a day earlier;
• Reduction of counterparty credit risk;
• Reduction of margin requirements (as demonstrated by the U.S. transition);
• Greater efficiency because of the technology changes and improved operational processes needed to support T+1;
• Increased automation.

BNY provides a wide range of products that can support clients during their journey to T+1, including execution services, middle and back-office capabilities, settlement services, asset servicing (including corporate actions and taxes), FX services, securities lending capabilities, data & analytics solutions providing predictive analytics, and liquidity management.

While securities lending transactions may be excluded from the mandatory move to T+1 – either due to regulatory scope or because they are typically traded off-venue – recalls will still transition to a T+1 cycle. This change is necessary to support timely settlement of client sales.

To enable the recall process within a full settlement cycle, it remains critical for client sale instructions to be received promptly after trading. Where permitted, partial settlement can also help minimize settlement fails.

The EU, Switzerland and the UK are very interconnected, there are some multi-listed financial products traded and settled between the jurisdictions through cross border transactions.

In case of different transition dates, mis-aligned settlement cycles between these multi-listed securities (including Exchange-Traded Products and Eurobonds) would provoke additional funding and settlement risks, with a potential impact on the securities’ liquidity and costs. To avoid this, the UK and EU taskforces and the Swiss Securities Post trade council have therefore decided to align the transition date.  

Clients can already start preparing as follows:

• Review the operating model — End to end review including funding between TD and SD
• Secure budget investment for 2026 and onwards
• Behavioural change — Investigate changes that can be made and start now, i.e. new allocation and confirmation requirements, partials usage, correct usage of PSET and PSAF/SAFE, reconciliation breaks and better inventory management
• Invest in automation: SSI, Corporate Actions and Stock Lending Recalls
• Communicate with your clients, brokers, custodians, vendors: ‘you are only as strong as your weakest link’

• Pakistan has  moved to T+1 on February 9, 2026
• Chile, Colombia and Perù intend to move in the second half of 2027
• Brasil communicated the intention to move to T+1 in February 2028
• Turkey has started the analysis in May 2025
• In the Asia Pacific region, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia have started the analysis of the move. Australia also started the analysis but won’t likely move before 2030. 

The task force has developed three market practices:

PSET and PSAF under T+1 Settlement (in cooperation with SMPG):

• PSET should be populated in settlement instructions with the BIC11 of the CSD where the counterparty is located.
• Use of Place of Safekeeping (SAFE) should be included in settlement instructions only when securities are held in multiple locations (e.g., across different custodians, CSDs, or ICSDs).

SSI Management and Exchange Market Practice

• The market practice offers guidance on the required minimum content and standardized messages to be supported for the exchange of standing settlement instructions (SSI) data among settlement partners

Transaction Type Market Practice

• The market practice offers guidance on the minimum Transaction Types to be used by market participants and supported by the (I)CSDs / Securities Settlement Systems in the European Economic Area.

These market practices offer the fundamental minimum requirements to comply with recommendations contained in the High-Level Roadmap (HLR). 

An industry effort led by AFME, UK Finance, and the Investment Association resulted in a document published at the end of January 2026, outlining best practices for the consistent definition, provision, and use of PSAF/SAFE and PSET fields in post-trade processes. The guidance incorporates and aligns with SMPG recommendations on PSET and PSAF under the T+1 Settlement Framework. Main recommendations as follows:

PSAF/SAFE in Settlement Instructions:

• PSAF should be included in a settlement instruction only when there is more than one possible safekeeping location
• PSAF should indicate the first CSD in the custody chain, from the instructing party’s perspective
• PSAF should be identified by entering the BIC code of the first CSD in the custody chain, from the instructing party’s perspective

PSAF in Statement of Holdings (MT535):

• Custodians should populate PSAF in Field 94a of MT535, unless bilaterally agreed otherwise.
• PSAF should be identified by entering the BIC code of the first CSD in the custody chain, from the instructing party’s perspective

Usage of PSET

• PSET data must be included at the point of allocation by both counterparties, for all allocation methods (e.g. CTM, FIX, ISO, email, etc.).
• Promote convergence in realignment instruction practices

All settlement instructions should be considered eligible for partial settlement unless both counterparties explicitly agree otherwise, through the NPAR flag.

This approach aims to maximise eligibility for partial settlement compared with the existing unilateral opt-out regime under the ESMA RTS published in October, which must be followed by the (I)CSDs. The market practice therefore goes beyond the RTS in ambition while fully respecting the RTS as the binding legal framework.

There can be exemptions: pre-defined transaction types – Sec Lending, Corp Act, Portfolio Transfer) and exceptions: both parties agree not to partial by inputting the NPAR flag in the settlement instructions, for a specific transaction or contractual relationship. These exceptions should be limited and documented.

To address intraday liquidity and settlement-efficiency risks from T+1, the EU T+1 Industry Committee recommends an 11:00 CET gating event leveraging (I)CSD and T2S capabilities to synchronize settlement and maintain netting. The gating event targets SFTs, with repo activity expected to move to T+0, but will remain open to other trades given links between SFTs and cash transactions.

The current features of the gating event are as follows:

• a specific field is needed in settlement instructions that allows parties to flag certain instructions that should be eligible for settlement as part of the gating event; a new structured field in settlement messages has been requested to SWIFT and accepted through a ‘Fast Track’ procedure;
• participation in the gating event should be a unilateral choice for OTC transactions;
• eligibility for the purpose of the gating event might also include CCP-cleared SFT transactions in fixed income instruments, CCPs will have to follow a pre-determined approach with regards to relevant transactions;
• the gating event flag should only be considered by the (I)CSD until the start of the gating event (11.00 CET) on Intended Settlement Date (ISD). Any flagged instructions that are submitted after the cut-off time for the gating event on ISD will follow the standard lifecycle and will be settled at the earliest opportunity.

The EU T+1 Industry Committee has realized the following documents:

• High-level Roadmap to T+1 Securities Settlement in the EU – Published on June 30 2025 and available at https://eu-t1.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/high-level_roadmap_eu_t1-1.pdf
• EU T+1 Securities Settlement Handbook Published on February 3, 2025 and available at https://eu-t1.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/EU-T1-Handbook.pdf
• Additional guidance on partial settlement, SSIs and SFTs, a set of documents available at https://eu-t1.eu/resources-2/

The UK Accelerated Settlement Task Force has published in February 2025 a first version of the UK Implementation Plan for first day of trading for T+1 settlement – 11^th October 2027 and an updated version in September 2025, available at the following link: https://acceleratedsettlement.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/AST-V2-Final-Final-report.pdf

The swissSPTC has published the first version of their report on ‘Recommendations to the Shortening of the Settlement Cycle’, in September and the final version in November 2025, available at https://www.six-group.com/dam/download/sites/swiss-sptc/t1/swiss-sptc-tf-t1-recommendations-20251114-final-report.pdf  

Per Regulation (EU) 2025/2075, the European Commission must track market developments, fail rates, and T+1 readiness. If a significant rise in fails is likely, it can revise cash penalties or apply other CSDR tools to limit financial and operational risks. Settlement discipline is integral to the EU capital markets framework, requiring timely preparation. The EU T+1 Industry Committee launched its work in early 2025 to give industry sufficient runway to plan, fund, implement, and test by October 11, 2027.

In any case, markets already operating on T+1, available data indicate no rise in settlement fails during the move.

CSDs should be ready by October 11, 2027. Considering the EU T+1 Industry Committee recommendations are based on the ‘Adhere or Explain’ principle, if they choose not to adopt these measures, they are expected to provide users and clients with a clear, transparent explanation of the alternative chosen to comply with T+1. It should be noted that ESMA’s proposed RTS amendments on Settlement Discipline, per its Final Report, reflect several High-Level Roadmap recommendations. 

The common challenges include trade matching, clearing, FX transactions, repo, securities lending and corporate actions, which could all be exacerbated by the time difference. It is therefore recommended to automate and expedite as much as possible for all the post-trade phases, aiming to send settlement instructions to the custodian in the shortest timeframe possible. 

Key FX takeaways from the U.S. and Canada T+1 go‑live include:

• Market continuity remained strong, with minimal disruption
• Liquidity profiles held up well, even on peak settlement days
• Custodian deadline extensions proved highly valuable in supporting clients

These learnings are directly informing preparations for the EU, UK and Switzerland.

Yes. BNY has an established, enterprise‑wide T+1 program with senior management oversight. The program is focused on identifying impacts, mitigating risk, and ensuring operational readiness for clients and counterparties.

BNY Markets will be fully prepared for industry go‑live.

BNY is already delivering:

• Same‑day FX trading and settlement infrastructure
• Scalable automation and 24/5 client support
• Multiple connectivity options, including API, SWIFT, NEXEN, and Standing Instructions

These capabilities are foundational to supporting a compressed T+1 settlement cycle.

Yes. BNY provides same‑day FX execution to support T+1 securities settlement across eligible markets.

For BNY clients with access to NEXEN, detailed execution and funding deadlines can be found there.

FX cut‑off times vary by currency and market. For BNY clients with access to NEXEN, detailed execution and funding deadlines can be found there.

Your BNY relationship team can help interpret these deadlines based on your operating model.

In addition to existing same‑day FX capabilities, BNY offers FX Now, which enables:

• Near real‑time FX execution
• Extended same‑day cut‑offs
• Later execution windows to support compressed settlement timelines

These enhancements are designed to improve flexibility and reduce funding risk in a T+1 environment

Clients may wish to consider:

• Reviewing and optimizing internal FX funding workflows
• Increasing use of straight‑through processing (API, SWIFT, NEXEN)
• Establishing contingency funding arrangements and holiday‑aware calendars

BNY teams welcome the opportunity to partner with clients, assessing readiness and identifying enhancements as well as workflow automation opportunities