Following a hugely successful Monday evening Meet & Greet , ISLA CEO, Ina Budh-Raja opened proceedings on the first full agenda day of Lisbon 2026 by sharing how our markets are evolving beyond its traditional boundaries – shaped by new markets, new technologies and new trading structures. “The ISLA Annual Conference offers the market the opportunity to not only come together to adapt to these changes, but to work together to define how we do it”.
The early afternoon sessions were focussed on setting the context for the rest of the week, from the global economic battlegrounds to the regional policy objectives shaping them.
Sessions included:
- Welcome Remarks & ISLA Strategic Priorities – Ina Budh-Raja (ISLA)
- Geo-Political Outlook – Geoffrey Yu (BNY)
- Beyond Borders: The New Frontier of Global Securities Regulation – Bertrand Huet (FleishmanHillard) and Jakub Michalik (Euronext)
- ISLA Global Advocacy, Regulatory & Legal Highlights – Ina Budh-Raja (ISLA), Tina Baker (ISLA), Adrian Dale (ISLA), Fran Garritt (ISLA Americas), and Farrah Mahmood (ISLA)
- The Importance of Global Alliance: Aligning Priorities & Making Collaborative Progress – Ed Oliver (eSecLending), Ina Budh-Raja (ISLA), Fran Garritt (ISLA Americas), Hitesh Harduth (SASLA), and Roanna Kim (CASLA)
- Thematic Discussion – Trading in a T+1 World – Alessandro Cozzani (Bank of America), Adrian Dale (ISLA), Ben Davies (HSBC), Matthew Neville (State Street), and Dan Sofianos (BNP Paribas)
Looking at the macro trends shaping the year ahead:
- U𝗦𝗗 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: Despite market noise, the dollar remains the world’s ultimate “liquidity valve.” Its structural anchor in US Treasuries continues to provide a hedge against geopolitical conflict.
- 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁: Elevated real yields in the Eurozone are shifting investor attention. From Poland’s growth to Hungary’s political repricing, regional fixed-income is offering unique alpha for those willing to look beyond the US.
- 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: Tech and semiconductors are driving performance, but this concentration shifts systemic risk toward inflation. For exposure with a twist, keep an eye on South Korea as an EM proxy.
Focussing on the EU, our next panel explored the policy behind these trends, where the underlying message was cautiously optimistic:
- 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺: The European Market Integration & Supervision Package (MISP) is pushing toward a more unified supervisory and market structure, with a focus on simplifying trading, post-trade, and infrastructure rules across the EU.
- 𝗗𝗟𝗧, 𝗖𝗿𝘆𝗽𝘁𝗼 & 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹: Europe is moving to make tokenisation, DLT, and regulated stablecoins commercially usable at scale, while keeping central bank money as the core settlement asset.
- 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀, 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: There is clear momentum behind supervisory convergence and retail participation, but the real test is implementation across member states with different timelines and interests.
The afternoon kicked off with a deep dive into the role of industry associations against a back-drop of evolving markets.
From ISLA Global highlights covering the key regulatory milestones, including T+1, the Savings and Investment Union, 10C-1a, and Basel III, to a view from our partner associations from across the globe.
- Global Alliance, Local Execution: Securities finance associations are collaborating more than ever, sharing regulatory experience, market practice, and “what works” across regions. This global alliance is especially valuable in emerging markets and across Africa and the Americas.
- Member Engagement is the Real Differentiator: Through working groups, conferences, and cross-association sessions, associations help bring members into the conversation and bridge the regulatory gap.
- A Pipeline of Future Leaders: There is also a need for broader skills development, including wellbeing, inclusion, and adapting to new challenges like AI and tokenisation, so the industry can transfer knowledge and keep attracting fresh perspectives.
Trade associations foster the growth of the securities financing industry, and actively represent the long-term interests of all our stakeholders. Join the conversations in the working groups and play an active role in shaping the future of the industry!
Closing the day was the highly anticipated, T+1 Thematic Discussion.
With less than 18 month until go-live, this session brought together the entire value chain for a candid view of realities of trading in a T+1 world.
- A Continuous Workflow: With T+1 bringing earlier inventory updates, faster matching, tighter recall management, and more intraday borrowing and returning , compressed timelines are reshaping desks across Asia, Europe, and the US.
- DvP Alignment is Key: The need to align securities and cash efficiently is now critical – firms need cleaner standing instructions, quicker collateral release, better cross-border funding and FX readiness to avoid settlement friction.
- Readiness Involves the Entire Value Chain: Success depends on lenders, borrowers, tri-party agents, custodians, vendors, and asset managers all operating to the same cut-offs, with automation reducing manual breaks and improving speed of execution.
- Operational Discipline Drives Performance: The winners will be the firms that can refresh data more frequently, act on recalls faster, and optimise inventory and collateral in real time rather than relying on end-of-day processes.
