Our annual Regulatory Outlook in Securities Services white paper is designed to help market participants navigate a changing post-trade landscape by providing a concise, forward-looking overview of the most significant regulatory and market developments around the world that are shaping securities services.

Our 2026 edition, authored by Britta Woernle, Boon-Hiong Chan, Nadra Mueller and Henrique Santos, examines how market infrastructure is becoming faster, more connected and increasingly continuous; how digital assets are moving from innovation initiatives into regulated financial market infrastructure; and how artificial intelligence is becoming a supervisory and technology-control priority.

The paper explores these forces through a global lens before diving into regional developments:

• Europe is progressing on initiatives such as the Market Integration and Supervision Package, the continued evolution of the Central Securities Depositories Regulation, and industry preparations for T+1.
• Asia is seeing market structure reform, digital asset regulation and AI governance advance in tandem, as regulators seek to modernise capital markets. The region continues to serve as an important source of regulatory innovation across both traditional and digital market infrastructure.
• The Americas (US and Brazil): In the US, extended trading and clearing hours, ISO 20022 settlement messaging, increased automation and the continued development of tokenised market infrastructure are reshaping the operational environment. Brazil is focused on moving to T+1 settlement by 2028, while regulators are also simplifying market access for foreign investors and modernising infrastructure.

Boon-Hiong Chan
Industry Applied Innovation Lead, Head of Securities & Technology Advocacy APAC, Trust and Securities Services, Deutsche Bank

Britta Woernle
Head of Market Advocacy Europe – Trust and Securities Services, Deutsche Bank

Nadra Mueller
Americas Regional Head – Trust and Securities Services Product Management, Deutsche Bank

Henrique Santos
Brazil Head – Trust & Securities Services, Deutsche Bank