UK Accelerated Settlement Taskforce Quarterly Review – Q3 2025

Updated Implementation Plan – Addendum and Erratum

In September, we published an Addendum and Erratum to the AST Implementation Plan, reflecting a small number of refinements and clarifications to the original February 2025 publication. These changes aim to harmonise the UK and the EU plans while maintaining the key recommendations for the UK’s transition.

The plan reaffirms the UK’s 11 October 2027 go-live date and the regulatory backing behind it, with mandatory T+1 settlement set to be reflected in amendments to UK CSDR.

If you haven’t already, please ensure your internal planning is aligned to the updated version of the report, available on the AST website.

Switzerland and Liechtenstein Join the October 2027 Timeline

We welcomed Switzerland’s and Liechtenstein’s recommendations for their move and commitment to T+1 also going live on 11 October 2027.

This growing alignment strengthens the case for a harmonised, cross-border transition — a long-standing objective raised by industry stakeholders, and we will continue to work closely with them and the EU to deliver a coordinated migration across all European jurisdictions.

Engaging with Industry – Highlights from a busy Q3

The last quarter has been rich in dialogue through several events and engagements. Notable highlights include:

• EY: The Journey to T+1 in the UK and Europe: Co-hosted with EY, the event brought together industry leaders and market participants to explore operational challenges and the path to readiness. The event also included a fireside chat with Jamie Bell (Head of Capital Markets: Supervision, Policy and Competition at the FCA), which highlighted the FCA’s continued expectation on progress.

• SIBOS 2025: I moderated a panel between senior representatives from CLS, Euroclear, HSBC, BNP Paribas and DTCC, with a focus on digitalisation and the evolving roles of key capital market institutions.

• PostTrade 360 and Euroclear Conferences: AST featured in high-profile sessions focused on post-trade modernisation and settlement acceleration.

• Q3 T+1 Implementation Forum: Following the success of the first meeting, this second quarterly forum provided a platform for firms to share perspectives, raise implementation challenges and discuss key themes in a live Q&A format.

These events are playing a crucial role in surfacing issues, building shared understanding and allowing me to reinforce the urgency of action to ensure all market participants can comfortably cross the finish line in October 2027.

The Broader View: FX and T+1

We launched our new series, The Broader View, which will include a series of expert panel sessions that aim to dive into various T+1 topics.

The first episode was a session dedicated to FX. Chaired by Andrew Harvey (GFMA), the panel covered how FX cut-offs and settlement timing intersect with the move to T+1, and what early preparations firms should be making. The session is now available to watch on our website.

Stay tuned for future episodes which will explore similarly high-impact topics across the T+1 landscape.

UK/EU T+1 Pulse Survey

The latest ValueExchange survey closed on 9 October with strong participation from across the industry.

The results will be published in November and are expected to provide valuable insights into market readiness, common risk areas and benchmark industry progress against the 2027 deadlines.

These insights will highlight industry progress and challenges which will help guide readiness efforts.

Next Steps – Testing and Risk Workstreams

As we shift towards the delivery phase, two new AST workstreams have been launched focusing on testing and risk & compliance:

Testing Workstream

Led by Charles Pugh (Euroclear UK & International) and Alex Chow (J.P. Morgan), this group will design a coordinated industry-wide testing plan for delivery by the end of Q1 2026.

The first meeting took place on 6 October, with weekly sessions scheduled for the rest of the year.

The workstream will also coordinate with the EU T+1 committee to ensure harmonisation of test plans where possible and appropriate.

Risk & Compliance Workstream

This newly formed stream will examine regulatory, conduct, operational and legal risks related to T+1, and propose practical mitigations to support implementation.

If you are interested in joining this workstream, please do let me know. We will communicate more formal joining instructions in due course.

Stay Focused – Planning for 2026 Starts Now

As the industry enters year-end planning cycles, firms must ensure that T+1 implementation is embedded in 2026 budgeting and delivery plans.

This includes:

• Allocating resources to support operational and systems changes

• Engaging vendors and internal stakeholders

• Planning for end-to-end testing

• Embedding regulatory, legal and compliance oversight

2025 has been the year of engagement. 2026 must be the year of execution. The actions taken now will define readiness for October 2027.

The momentum is real — and the timeline is fixed. Stay engaged. Stay informed. And start building for 2026.

Kind regards,

Andrew Douglas 

Chair, The UK Accelerated Settlement Taskforce

October 2025