The European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) has called for the EU to migrate to a T+1 settlement cycle by October 2027, ensuring coordination with the UK.
In its final report on the subject, the EU's financial markets regulator and supervisor says the switch to T+1 should occur simultaneously across all relevant instruments, recommending a date of 11 October 2027.
Esma also suggests following a coordinated approach with other jurisdictions in Europe.
Industry players have called for the UK, EU and Switzerland to align to the same cycle to avoid the risk costly lags in securities trades.
However, there had been some doubt as to whether this would be achieved. In September, with the EU still not ruling out a 2028 date, the UK said it will make the switch by the end of 2027 regardless of whether the others did.
Welcoming Esma's decision, Andrew Douglas, chair of the UK Accelerated Settlement Taskforce’s T+1 technical group, says: "We have worked closely with Esma over the past 12 months sharing our progress and I am confident that this relationship will continue to develop as we look at how we can develop joint migration plans."
Says Esma on the migration: "Regarding the quantification of the costs and benefits, the elements assessed by Esma suggest that the impact of T+1 in terms of risk reduction, margin savings and the reduction of costs stemming from the misalignment with other major jurisdictions globally, will represent important benefits for the EU capital markets."
The report also notes that the switch will require amending the Central Securities Depositories Regulation and the settlement discipline framework.
In addition, market participants will need to invest heavily in harmonisation, standardisation, and modernisation to improve settlement efficiency.