On Sep 14th, Rosenblatt Securities’ Investment Banking group hosted a spirited conversation about the current state and future of the U.S. equities settlement cycle and related infrastructure and collateral issues featuring three of the industry’s top thought leaders: Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla, and former Vice-Chair of the DTCC and current Chairman of LedgerX Larry Thompson.
U.S. equity markets are experiencing record volumes – up more than 10% year over year, with rapidly rising retail trading – an estimated 30-35% of total volume, and a whole new generation of investors entering the market for the first time. But how is today’s trade settlement and collateral infrastructure holding up with the changing times? This session discussed the state of the settlement process, the ability of today’s infrastructure to handle new challenges, and the innovations that could pave the way for a more cost-effective, efficient, and less-risky market.
Chad, Larry and Vlad discussed the following issues during our discussion:
- What is working in equities trade settlement? What needs to be changed in today’s market infrastructure and collateral rules?
- What is the need for reducing the current T+2 trade settlement to T+1 and beyond to same-day settlement? What are the biggest challenges in making that happen?
- How can Blockchain solutions from leading firms like Paxos be utilized to enhance trade settlement?
