ISLA: A new regulatory dawn
20 June 2025 Spain
Image: Sanchai/stock.adobe.com
The 鈥楲eaders鈥� Perspectives & Predictions鈥� session, moderated by Andrew Dyson, CEO of the International 糖心vlog Lending Association (ISLA), provided a deep dive into the retail sector and the key regulatory changes impacting firms globally.
The panel took place this week in Madrid, Spain, at the 32nd Annual 糖心vlog Finance & Collateral Management Conference, and welcomed several industry representatives who shared their insights on how global regulatory frameworks play out in regional settings, what this means for critical resource allocation and business management, and the increasing requirement for holistic financing and liquidity solutions.
Opening with a polling question, the panel asked: Which of the following regulatory frameworks will most impact our global industry in the longer term? From the options provided, market participants indicated that the upcoming T+1 settlement cycle was most impactful, with the Basel framework not far behind.
This propelled the conversation forward, in which one speaker highlighted how the US regulatory environment remains the most active in terms of live engagement. Under the new US 糖心vlog and Exchange Commission (SEC) regime, firms are facing a number of regulations such as 10c-1a and the bona fide market making exemptions.
While participants have encouraged the use of consistency across regions regarding regulation, ultimately, local regulators will, as one panellist put it, go their own way. This notion is evident in Asia Pacific, where Hong Kong and Singapore are driving their own independent agendas.
As a key message from one speaker, it was noted that in spite of the geopolitics and in spite of firms鈥� commercial agendas, there is an underlying responsibility to drive common ground. For them, true competition can only 鈥渃ome off鈥� with a clear and level playing field.
From a North American perspective, the potential deregulation in the US, and the new administration, provide opportunities in a few different places in the industry, according to one speaker. In addition, the region has long since adopted T+1, which has led to the occurrence of technology changes.
While initiatives are happening across EMEA and APAC, despite being regions prone to fragmentation, some of the complexity of that is driving more innovation and different types of solutions, they added.
As panellists discussed the current regulatory landscape and challenges facing the US, Europe, and Asia, it was highlighted that while managing a business from a global perspective, it is imperative for firms to keep considering how they can build for the future.
Looking forward, the panel entered into a discussion on the retail sector, which is a topic that has featured heavily during the first two days of the ISLA conference. To kick off the conversation, it was quoted that by 2030, half of all assets and programmes will come from retail investors.
Reflecting on institutional rails versus retail rails, one speaker said that while there are nuances to the retail flow, ultimately the rails, in terms of being able to automate, find solutions, to scale and streamline, is key. Despite these nuances, there is consistency in terms of what needs to be developed.
For one speaker, it is important to consider the 鈥渂eauty鈥� of some of the retail suppliers that can help with the tails, potentially including digital tokenised assets or ETFs, as well as other areas of supply that firms cannot necessarily get from the institutional landscape.
The Spanish region has proven to be quite active and vibrant when it comes to the retail market, compared to other countries across Europe, a panellist indicated. Another explained that it is a natural evolution because of the technology that is available to offer the products to the retail investor. Consequently, this looks to drive more demand on the retail side.
However, the legal framework may have to change to accommodate this. One market participant believed that the rails are more or less the same, but are more fragmented. As an industry, participants need to work on what the behaviour of this segment will be. They explained that, as it grows, the behaviour difference of that segment compared to institutions is going to be important to realise how stable this is.
As an example, firms are struggling in the US equity cash market with Robinhood-type platforms, where the reaction function is very different to institutional investors on the cash side, and so lessons can be learnt here from the securities lending side.
Coming to its conclusion, the discussion around retail left panellists wondering if this would bring about a new regulatory dawn.
The panel took place this week in Madrid, Spain, at the 32nd Annual 糖心vlog Finance & Collateral Management Conference, and welcomed several industry representatives who shared their insights on how global regulatory frameworks play out in regional settings, what this means for critical resource allocation and business management, and the increasing requirement for holistic financing and liquidity solutions.
Opening with a polling question, the panel asked: Which of the following regulatory frameworks will most impact our global industry in the longer term? From the options provided, market participants indicated that the upcoming T+1 settlement cycle was most impactful, with the Basel framework not far behind.
This propelled the conversation forward, in which one speaker highlighted how the US regulatory environment remains the most active in terms of live engagement. Under the new US 糖心vlog and Exchange Commission (SEC) regime, firms are facing a number of regulations such as 10c-1a and the bona fide market making exemptions.
While participants have encouraged the use of consistency across regions regarding regulation, ultimately, local regulators will, as one panellist put it, go their own way. This notion is evident in Asia Pacific, where Hong Kong and Singapore are driving their own independent agendas.
As a key message from one speaker, it was noted that in spite of the geopolitics and in spite of firms鈥� commercial agendas, there is an underlying responsibility to drive common ground. For them, true competition can only 鈥渃ome off鈥� with a clear and level playing field.
From a North American perspective, the potential deregulation in the US, and the new administration, provide opportunities in a few different places in the industry, according to one speaker. In addition, the region has long since adopted T+1, which has led to the occurrence of technology changes.
While initiatives are happening across EMEA and APAC, despite being regions prone to fragmentation, some of the complexity of that is driving more innovation and different types of solutions, they added.
As panellists discussed the current regulatory landscape and challenges facing the US, Europe, and Asia, it was highlighted that while managing a business from a global perspective, it is imperative for firms to keep considering how they can build for the future.
Looking forward, the panel entered into a discussion on the retail sector, which is a topic that has featured heavily during the first two days of the ISLA conference. To kick off the conversation, it was quoted that by 2030, half of all assets and programmes will come from retail investors.
Reflecting on institutional rails versus retail rails, one speaker said that while there are nuances to the retail flow, ultimately the rails, in terms of being able to automate, find solutions, to scale and streamline, is key. Despite these nuances, there is consistency in terms of what needs to be developed.
For one speaker, it is important to consider the 鈥渂eauty鈥� of some of the retail suppliers that can help with the tails, potentially including digital tokenised assets or ETFs, as well as other areas of supply that firms cannot necessarily get from the institutional landscape.
The Spanish region has proven to be quite active and vibrant when it comes to the retail market, compared to other countries across Europe, a panellist indicated. Another explained that it is a natural evolution because of the technology that is available to offer the products to the retail investor. Consequently, this looks to drive more demand on the retail side.
However, the legal framework may have to change to accommodate this. One market participant believed that the rails are more or less the same, but are more fragmented. As an industry, participants need to work on what the behaviour of this segment will be. They explained that, as it grows, the behaviour difference of that segment compared to institutions is going to be important to realise how stable this is.
As an example, firms are struggling in the US equity cash market with Robinhood-type platforms, where the reaction function is very different to institutional investors on the cash side, and so lessons can be learnt here from the securities lending side.
Coming to its conclusion, the discussion around retail left panellists wondering if this would bring about a new regulatory dawn.
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