US Accelerated Settlement to T + 1 – An opportunity or a hitch?

The US securities market is moving to a shorter settlement cycle. In 2024, all U.S. trades will need to settle on T+1. That's one day after they're traded. The move from the current T+2 cycle aims to reduce settlement risk, reduce liquidity margin, and collateral requirements. It also compresses timelines in seven key areas. These areas include trade allocations, affirmations, and turnaround times; pre-funding and operations in foreign exchange trades; compressed timing for securities lending, loan recalls, and reallocations; shortened timeframe between ex-date and record date for corporate actions; the impact on cross-currency transactions with cash and liquidity management, batch processing, and their reporting, and time zone implications, especially for counterparties based in Asia. The change will have an influence on various processes throughout the securities trading lifecycle in addition to improving custody and settlements, affecting all global asset managers and financial institutions. Additionally, it will present a chance to automate and improve earlier manual or ineffective procedures to handle the increased demands and time constraints brought on by the shift to shorter settlement cycles.