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The EU will cut the time it takes to settle stock, bond and fund trades from two days to one from October 2027, the European Commission confirmed on Wednesday, in a move designed to boost liquidity in the bloc’s capital markets.
“A shorter settlement cycle would enhance the attractiveness of EU markets,” the commission wrote. It comes as the EU is seeking to re-energise its markets by encouraging more domestic and international investment and boosting liquidity.
Single-day securities settlement will begin on October 11 2027 — the date that Esma, the EU’s financial market regulator, had previously recommended, aligning the switch with those in the UK and Switzerland in order to minimise costs for banks and fund managers.
Settlement is the typically dull but important process of matching and legally…
