Reimagining post-trade: A blueprint to upgrade today’s markets?

Abstract

There has been significant excitement surrounding the potential of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in revolutionising the world’s financial services markets in recent years. The aspiration of achieving a flawless method for trading, matching and settling security transactions is a far-reaching objective that all industry participants strive for. Financial services professionals do not begin their day aiming to create transaction failures. Such failures result in financial losses, including fines, staff expenses and overdraft charges across the industry. Despite decades of efforts to achieve a 100 per cent settlement rate, success has remained elusive. This paper delves into the evolution of our existing settlement framework, examines the risks it has brought about and speculates on potential improvements by enhancing our current systems and processes with necessary technological advancements.