Industry Steering Committee Provides Timeline for T+2 Implementation

The Shortened Settlement Cycle Industry Steering Committee ("ISC") outlined the timeline and activities required to move to a two-day settlement cycle ("T+2") in the U.S. It published the outline in an "Implementation Playbook" white paper.

The white paper provides a suggested guideline for regulatory actions, industry actions, market participant implementation, industry testing, and migration milestones and dependencies identified by the industry, in order to meet the Q3 2017 goal for migration to a T+2 settlement.

The ISC anticipates rule changes from a number of government regulators and self-regulatory organizations. The ISC also called on the SEC to play a "direct role" in implementing the new cycle by updating Exchange Act Rule 15c6-1(a) ("Settlement Cycle") to T+2.

"Coordinated regulatory support, along with the in-depth preparation of market participants, will ensure migration without market disruptions or harmful impacts to investors," the ISC concluded.