[ T H O U G H T L E A D E R S H I P | S I X ] be , in the short term , an attractive option . As a result , any move to shorten the settlement cycle in Europe will need to correspond with regulation – especially CSDR – and market practices , and be comprehensively reviewed to ensure the different regulatory and market initiatives do not cancel each other out or work against the stated goals of each regulation . Finally , we need to consider the impact of settlement reduction on an area of activity that the industry as a whole has been struggling to automate effectively , at least relative to other post trade processes and that is corporate events . Today we have Ex Date , Record Date and Payment Date . In the current environment , these three are consecutive . In a T + 1 environment , Ex-Date and Record Date would both need to be on trade date . We need to consider seriously the implications this might have for the efficient handling of corporate events . IPOs , already under pressure in some respects , might also be affected . Are there solutions to address the notes of caution sounded above ? As already suggested , new technologies and enhanced post-trade infrastructure will be essential to facilitate a relatively smooth transition to T + 1 . For those pointing to distributed ledger technology ( DLT ), although the potential is great , it is not yet a solution for this particular initiative , though it may be more instrumental in a subsequent move to
T + 0 or T + n . A huge amount of work from all stakeholders is needed to create greater harmonisation in Europe before moving to T + 1 , to avoid undermining efforts to improve settlement practices . A potential review of operating hours might be necessary , and not only in the post-trade area of our industry ( possibly moving the main workload to late in the afternoon ), but also as far as trading is concerned . Shortening trading hours by anticipating the closure of the markets may give post-trading procedures more time to cope with a T + 1 environment . In short , there are no insurmountable barriers to reducing the settlement frame to T + 1 , but we should not gloss over the scale of work that needs to precede such a move .
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