Secure, seamless cross-firm communication

Almost a decade ago, Europe led the way in shortening the settlement cycle to T+2 – a task that required wholesale re-engineering of European market-structure. Mere months from now, European securities firms will again be challenged – this time with the move to US NEXT-DAY settlement. Once more, our market participants face a complete restructuring of entire organisational workflows.

Started in 2014 as a messaging platform to enable data security and compliance, today Symphony is a leading common connector for market workflows. Among other things, Symphony provides more than half a million users with secure tele-conferencing services. At the core of these services lies a piece of software tech known as Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU). We call it Symphony Media Bridge (SMB).

The SEC has adopted a final rule to shorten the standard settlement cycle for most securities transactions from two business days (T+2) to one business day following the trade date (T+1). The reduced settlement period is forcing companies to reexamine their post-trade processes and procedures, which include communication methods. This article discusses several operating model changes to help with the transition to T+1 ahead of the compliance deadline of May 28, 2024.