The top story in North America has of course been the successful transition to T + 1 settlement in May 2024 , an achievement that has been watched across the globe , with many markets looking to follow in the upcoming years . Many single markets can take lessons from North America ’ s experience , while others with more complex decisions – like the EU – are having to establish their own blueprint . Regardless , the accomplishment of North America reducing its settlement cycle with few issues reported - as of yet - has largely been put down to the work which went into the transition and the support from custodians over the critical first four weeks . In a GC roundtable conducted during the first month of the transition , participants compared the introduction of T + 1 to that of Y2K , with the industry fearing the worst . However , ultimately it would seem this overcautious approach has paid off . As reported by Global Custodian ’ s editorial team , “ after just a few months of intense focus on the transition and various War Rooms and Command Centres being in place , some experts have even pointed to benefits stemming from the transition – as opposed to just coping ”. Of course , it isn ’ t just T + 1 that has |
been grabbing headlines in North America . Regulatory changes have been taken place especially in Canada , with Canada ’ s self-regulatory organisation ( SRO ) proposed rule changes looking to strengthen regulation of retail fully paid securities lending programmes with the goal of formalising investor protection measures , clarify requirements , and accommodate various lending models and client types . In the US , the SEC has been on an unwavering war path of introducing transparency into every aspect of the securities space as possible – while the introduction of a revised Custody rule still looms over the industry . However , at the time of writing it does appear this will be scaled back somewhat . With all these changes , the North American regional market has still seen an overall uptick in scores , increasing 14 basis points to 5.38 ( Good ). With a wide range of scores , each category sits within the Good range ( 5.00 – 5.99 ). Relationship Management ( 5.94 ) has the highest score , however when looking at the list of client priorities , Client Service is considered to be the most important to our respondents . Pricing has seen the largest uptick in rating since 2023 – increasing by 0.39 . This category now sits in the Good range . |
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th |
Respondent Priorities Client Service Relationship Management Account Management Asset Safety and Risk Management Asset Servicing Pricing Regulation and Compliance Cash Management and FX Technology Liquidity Management Data Services Service Innovation Securities Lending |
North America |
2024 |
2023 |
Global Average |
Difference to Global |
Account Management |
5.60 |
5.34 |
5.83 |
-0.23 |
Asset Safety and risk management |
5.58 |
5.49 |
5.73 |
-0.15 |
Asset Servicing |
5.46 |
5.26 |
5.59 |
-0.13 |
Cash Management and FX |
5.28 |
5.08 |
5.46 |
-0.18 |
Client Service |
5.56 |
5.34 |
5.84 |
-0.27 |
Data Services |
5.08 |
5.13 |
5.44 |
-0.36 |
Service Innovation |
5.21 |
5.13 |
5.43 |
-0.22 |
Liquidity Management |
5.14 |
5.00 |
5.41 |
-0.27 |
Pricing |
5.33 |
4.94 |
5.20 |
0.12 |
Regulation and Compliance |
5.48 |
5.30 |
5.57 |
-0.08 |
Relationship Management |
5.94 |
5.64 |
6.15 |
-0.21 |
Securities Lending |
5.09 |
5.21 |
5.17 |
-0.08 |
Technology |
5.14 |
5.19 |
5.33 |
-0.19 |
Average |
5.38 |
5.23 |
5.55 |
-0.17 |