New post-trade operating model - the path forward: whitepaper

A practical perspective on the road ahead for post-trade transformation and the barriers firms still need to overcome.

In Partnership with

Part four of the series examines the next phase of post-trade transformation. It explores the impact of legacy systems, integration costs, alternative assets and regulatory change, and how firms are modernising infrastructure to build more agile and resilient operations.

T+0 allocations critical

Operations

A bar chart showing legacy systems as the biggest obstacle.

Older infrastructure is fragile, inflexible and costly to maintain — and is struggling to meet changing regulatory, client and market demands.

Firms that have not yet automated allocations face the clearest and most immediate execution risk ahead of their T+1 deadlines.

FX spreads rise

Cost

A bar chart showing interoperability as the leading factor, ahead of two barriers.

Achieving interoperability adds complexity and raises cost for every firm attempting to modernise independently.

As more firms make the same adjustment, liquidity in the trading-day window may compress further.

Hiring fills gaps

Resources

A bar chart showing investment to overcome fragmentation, with flexible systems leading.

Regulatory change remains a double-edged sword — it supports resilience, but can stifle innovation where rules are not harmonised.

Hiring is a transitional response, not a scalable one — firms that do not automate will face rising costs as volumes grow.

The future of post-trade will be shaped by how firms respond to structural constraints that still limit progress. Legacy infrastructure, high integration costs and uneven regulatory change continue to slow transformation just as data demands, product complexity and client expectations keep rising.

What is still holding post-trade transformation back? How can firms modernise operations while managing interoperability, resilience and the demands of a more complex market environment?

Part four of the series examines the path forward for firms navigating post-trade change. It explores the barriers created by legacy systems, the rise of alternative assets, the importance of data and the need to build more integrated and scalable operating models.

The research, produced in partnership with S&P Global Market Intelligence, highlights:

Legacy systems remain a major obstacle: older infrastructure is still fragile, inflexible and costly to maintain under rising market and regulatory demands