EU, UK, and Switzerland launch joint T+1 testing plan
25 March 2026 UK
Image: nameera_juwairiya/stock.adobe.com
The UK Accelerated Settlement Taskforce (AST), the EU T+1 Industry Committee (IC), and the Swiss Securities Post Trade Council T+1 Task Force (swissSPTC), have published a unified Testing and Readiness Plan to guide the European financial industry through its transition to T+1 settlement, targeted for 11 October 2027.
According to the firms, the plan is the first of its kind to span the EU, UK, and Swiss financial markets simultaneously.
The plan provides a practical framework for all market participants and financial market infrastructures (FMIs) to test their readiness for the move to T+1 settlement and to de-risk the transition before it goes live.
The publication follows the establishment of a joint Testing and Readiness Workstream by the AST and EU T+1 IC in December 2025.
Andrew Douglas, chair of the UK T+1 Accelerated Settlement Taskforce states: “As requested by industry participants, we have collaborated with the EU on the launch and implementation of this testing framework. It will help firms to design and execute their own test plan for individual solution components as well as full end-to-end testing.
“It also clearly shows that testing of the individual components can start now, allowing plenty of time to guarantee a smooth transition to T+1 by October 2027.”
Given the deep interconnection between EU, UK, and Swiss markets, and the significant cross-border participation across all three, the three taskforces determined that a single, aligned programme would deliver substantially greater benefit than separate national plans.
The plan is underpinned by three factors: that automation is a key success factor; participant readiness depends on the readiness of the entire settlement chain;and providers should begin testing now.
Giovanni Sabatini, chair of the EU T+1 Industry Committee, says: “Moving to T+1 is not merely a technical upgrade — it is a pillar of the Savings and Investment Union and a unique opportunity to remove friction from European capital markets.
“The fact that EU, UK, and Swiss authorities are delivering this together is a demonstration of what practical, functional cooperation can achieve.
“We are building a bridge, and this testing plan is a critical part of it.”
The Testing and Readiness Plan sets out: guiding principles for industry-wide testing, including the importance of starting now using existing business as usual test environments, a testing timeline and logistics framework, including recommended windows for testing providers to open environments, and a de-risking framework drawing on lessons learned from the US T+1 transition, including key metrics firms should assess against.
The plan also details trade flow scenarios covering on-exchange and OTC trades, securities lending, repo, FX, and corporate events, in addition to guidance for Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs) on communicating test environment access.
Florentin Soliva, chair of the Swiss Securities Post Trade Council T+1 Task Force, comments: “Switzerland's inclusion in this joint programme reflects our markets' deep integration with the wider European post-trade ecosystem. A coordinated approach is the only approach that makes sense.”
According to the firms, the plan is the first of its kind to span the EU, UK, and Swiss financial markets simultaneously.
The plan provides a practical framework for all market participants and financial market infrastructures (FMIs) to test their readiness for the move to T+1 settlement and to de-risk the transition before it goes live.
The publication follows the establishment of a joint Testing and Readiness Workstream by the AST and EU T+1 IC in December 2025.
Andrew Douglas, chair of the UK T+1 Accelerated Settlement Taskforce states: “As requested by industry participants, we have collaborated with the EU on the launch and implementation of this testing framework. It will help firms to design and execute their own test plan for individual solution components as well as full end-to-end testing.
“It also clearly shows that testing of the individual components can start now, allowing plenty of time to guarantee a smooth transition to T+1 by October 2027.”
Given the deep interconnection between EU, UK, and Swiss markets, and the significant cross-border participation across all three, the three taskforces determined that a single, aligned programme would deliver substantially greater benefit than separate national plans.
The plan is underpinned by three factors: that automation is a key success factor; participant readiness depends on the readiness of the entire settlement chain;and providers should begin testing now.
Giovanni Sabatini, chair of the EU T+1 Industry Committee, says: “Moving to T+1 is not merely a technical upgrade — it is a pillar of the Savings and Investment Union and a unique opportunity to remove friction from European capital markets.
“The fact that EU, UK, and Swiss authorities are delivering this together is a demonstration of what practical, functional cooperation can achieve.
“We are building a bridge, and this testing plan is a critical part of it.”
The Testing and Readiness Plan sets out: guiding principles for industry-wide testing, including the importance of starting now using existing business as usual test environments, a testing timeline and logistics framework, including recommended windows for testing providers to open environments, and a de-risking framework drawing on lessons learned from the US T+1 transition, including key metrics firms should assess against.
The plan also details trade flow scenarios covering on-exchange and OTC trades, securities lending, repo, FX, and corporate events, in addition to guidance for Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs) on communicating test environment access.
Florentin Soliva, chair of the Swiss Securities Post Trade Council T+1 Task Force, comments: “Switzerland's inclusion in this joint programme reflects our markets' deep integration with the wider European post-trade ecosystem. A coordinated approach is the only approach that makes sense.”
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