One year in
What’s changed?
One year in
North America’s adoption of T+1 a year ago marked a key milestone, prompting thoughtful progress in markets around the world.
While T+1 has opened many strategic opportunities for firms, it has also caused friction in certain areas. As more markets embark on their T+1 journeys, the Capital Markets industry will have to make significant structural changes to keep pace.
T+1 is fast becoming the global settlement standard
T+1 is gaining undeniable momentum. What was once a distant pipedream is now a reality.
Following the transition in North America, our data shows that T+1 instructions currently account for 35% of cross-border settlement messages on Swift, up from 12% in 2023.
With the EU, UK, Australia, and others engaged in their own T+1 planning, we expect more than 70% of global settlement volumes will be on T+1 – or faster – by 2030. This transformation will impact all aspects of Securities Services, from liquidity and FX management, right through to operational risk and post-trade processing.
T+1 isn’t just about equities
In North America, settlement behaviour is already starting to change because of T+1.
In 2023, our data found that just 6% of equity instructions settled in North America were processed at T+1. This skyrocketed to 80% in the first half of 2025. And it’s not just in equities where we’re seeing this trend.
Even though not all fixed-income instruments are subject to mandatory T+1 settlement under US rules, many participants are proactively adopting shorter cycles.
In 2023, our data showed that 19% of fixed-income trades in North America settled on T+1. This includes segments such as corporates and municipals that fall under the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation’s (DTCC’s) T+1 mandate.
As of mid-2025, this share has risen to 43%, indicating growing market alignment with equity settlement timelines, even beyond the regulatory scope.
Why are different asset classes leaning towards T+1?
This multi-asset class shift to T+1 underscores a broader pattern.
Asset class boundaries are becoming less of an issue, as people increasingly move towards holistic post-trade modernisation and prioritise speed, automation, and intra-day liquidity.
In fixed-income specifically, the move to T+1 is powered by greater workflow standardisation, increased automation in the trade instruction and matching process, and a greater emphasis on same-day funding and collateral efficiency.
Accelerated settlements are becoming the norm across non-equity instruments, as well as equities.