Key takeaways:

• Interoperability is critical. Fragmented technology stacks—often a mix of legacy and modern tools—are creating inefficiencies and adding risk into the system
• Standardisation underpins automation. Industry-wide standards, such as those introduced by DMIST, aim to reduce errors and improve resiliency. Industry adoption, however, is slow due to underlying legacy technology
• Strategic investment beats short-term fixes. Technology spend driven by immediate regulatory or cost pressures often leads to tactical, siloed solutions. Long-term competitiveness, however, depends on scalable, integrated platforms delivering agility, innovation and collateral resilience
• Data quality is non-negotiable. Clean, unified data structures are the foundation for automation, exception management and real-time visibility across the post-trade lifecycle‍
• Emerging technology including tokenisation and distributed ledgers provide significant opportunities. A critical mass of networks, however, is hard to establish.

Highlights included:

• Collateral optimisation as a strategy: There's a clear trend towards centralised collateral pools and unified optimisation engines to streamline operations
• Tri-party repo milestone: RBC’s activation of tri-party pledge functionality on TMX/Clearstream’s CCMS marks a key step forward in collateral efficiency
• Widening collateral acceptance: Lenders are embracing a broader range of assets to boost returns and reduce idle collateral
• Data-driven decisions: Firms are embedding real-time data and automation across trading, risk and collateral management functions
• UMR impact: Tail wind of regulation is driving growth in repo and securities lending, with firms expanding regional activity to meet initial margin demands.

Top trends:

• AI is now mainstream. From document processing to counterparty risk scoring, AI is being deployed to eliminate manual bottlenecks
• Next-gen CTRM/ETRM platforms are evolving to integrate seamlessly with risk, margining and trading systems
• Regulatory and macro uncertainty continue to shape commodity markets, particularly around tariffs and regional energy policies
• Collateral workflow automation is gaining traction—firms are increasingly using modern SaaS platforms like CloudMargin to digitise margin call processes.

Key themes:

• DORA and operational resilience remain top-of-mind, with global regulators pushing for more robust post-trade systems
• T+1 in the EU presents a significant challenge due to market complexity, raising concerns around cost and delivery timelines
• Securities finance clearing is gaining momentum, offering greater netting efficiency, capital relief and access for the buyside
• DLT remains the top disruptive technology in securities lending, while AI garners growing interest for specific use cases
• Growth drivers: Retail participation and market expansion into emerging regions are expected to fuel the next phase of SBL activity.

• Legacy collateral technology is the bottleneck. Incremental fixes won’t solve legacy challenges and continue to drive risk. Firms need to pivot to modern, scalable technology enabling agility, innovation and collateral resilience
• Interoperability and standards are enablers. Without these key foundations, innovation stalls and costs rise
• Data is the fuel for automation and AI. Standardised, clean data unlocks efficiency, transparency and control
• Emerging technologies must integrate. Tokenisation, AI and real-time data are only powerful if they work with existing infrastructure.