It has been fantastic to meet so many of you at the ISLA Connects Educational Briefing events throughout 2025!
On behalf of ISLA, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our ISLA member firms for supporting the initiative and to every speaker who contributed to 101 sessions, panels, and fireside chats, some of whom were speaking publicly for the very first time; your involvement has been invaluable in making these briefings possible.
We kicked off the year in January, at the Global Funding & Financing Summit in Luxembourg, with Clearstream, Deutsche Borse Group and Eurex Clearing offering ISLA members the chance to attend their flagship conference at a discounted rate as part of our ISLA Connects initiative. We also partnered to host an exclusive Collaborating Networking reception with Anna Maj.
In March, we held our first session of 2025, hosted in partnership with BlackRock, where we explored all things Collateral. What it is, the different asset classes, and how market participants use collateral to achieve their commercial objectives. Attendees gained a detailed understanding of its role in transactions under the GMSLA and the various collateral structures in use.
In May, we reconvened at Barclays for a deep dive into Prime Brokerage. This session focused on the demand side of securities lending, examining the role of prime brokers, the services they offer, the clients they serve, and how their business model has evolved over time.
At the Securities Finance Times Industry Excellence Awards in July, we were thrilled to see ISLA Connects win the Best Diversity & Inclusion Initiative for 2025.
By September, we partnered with Wematch.live for an evening dedicated to Total Return Swaps (TRS). We discussed the factors driving demand for TRS and how ISLA member firms across the ecosystem integrate TRS and securities lending into their financing and funding strategies.
Finally, in November, we closed the year at Clifford Chance, where J.P. Morgan led a fascinating briefing on Digital Assets. This session provided a comprehensive look at developments in digital assets and their potential impact on the equity finance industry.
Our structured networking sessions have also been a real highlight, attracting over 200 attendees, from 57 different companies, including 4 networking receptions across Luxembourg, Madrid, Frankfurt, and Paris – with some participants joining all four briefings and the networking receptions too!
Looking ahead to 2026, we’re excited to continue building on this momentum. Our first ISLA Connects event will take place in partnership with EquiLend towards the end of February. Keep an eye out for the “Save the Date” announcement soon.
And there’s more: ISLA Connects is Going Global!
Building on the success of ISLA Connects in Europe, it gives us great pleasure to announce that ISLA Americas will host its first event in early February in New York, focusing on Tokenization, find out more about the event here. A big thank you to Fran Garritt, ISLA Americas CEO, and his team, as well as Cleary Gottlieb, who will partner and host this session.
In May, we’ll hold our first Canadian event ahead of the CASLA Conference in Toronto, with thanks to Royal Bank of Canada Investor Services for partnering with us. We are looking forward to meeting up with our Canadian members!
These Educational Briefings mark the first ISLA Connects events to be held outside of Europe, with plans to further expand ISLA Connects into the Americas and beyond.
If you would like to find out more about ISLA Connects or to enquire about possible hosting an ISLA Connects event, please contact me at: tina.baker@islaemea.org.
Tina Baker
Head of Legal Service & ISLA Connects Lead
