ALMATY – For the first time, the World Forum of Central Securities Depositories (WFC 2025) convened in Kazakhstan, bringing together more than 200 participants from 55 countries to tackle the most pressing challenges and opportunities in post-trade markets. Hosted by the Kazakhstan Central Securities Depository (KCSD), the forum united the five regional CSD associations, ACG, ACSDA, AECSD, ECSDA, and AMEDA, representing nearly 135 organizations worldwide, establishing a truly global platform for dialogue and knowledge sharing.

Day One: Laying the Foundation for Transformation

The Opening Plenary Session: Evolving Role of CSDs in Transforming the Global Financial Market Landscape, moderated by Mr. Martin Lawrence, Chief Commercial Officer at The Value Exchange, highlighted how CSDs are expanding beyond traditional post-trade functions to provide advanced data services, custody for digital assets, and initiatives driving capital market growth. Mr. Lawrence emphasized that 76% of firms surveyed are implementing T+1 settlement projects, describing the transition as a stepping stone toward atomic settlement.

“T+1 will come up frequently over the next couple of days, but here’s the key point: of that 76%, many are still dealing with changes tied to North America. We like to think of North American T+1 as being in the rear-view mirror, but it isn’t. It is still driving significant change, and now that effort is expanding,” Mr. Lawrence said, ​​pointing also to tokenized assets projected to reach $16 trillion by 2030 and the fast adoption of generative AI.

Mr.Yedil Medeu, Chairman ofKCSD, stressed the need for cohesion across fragmented markets: “One language, one clock, one way to fix breaks, and thin, non-exclusive links.” He added that harmonizing trade descriptions, aligning cut-off times, standardizing fail resolution, and ensuring interoperable cross-border links are critical to keep liquidity from splintering.

Mr. Bruce Butterill, Executive Director of ACSDA, emphasized that consolidation can drive innovation and efficiency more effectively than competition. “Some people feel that competition is good for the market, and it may be good for the product offering, but it is not, in my opinion. In fact, it is not good for the cost and efficiency of processing, because you have this enormous duplication of the cost base,” he said, warning that duplication wastes resources.

The Executive Panel Session I: Diversification and Development of New Initiatives in the Post-Trade Industry, moderated by Mr. Bryan Pascoe, CEO of International Capital Market Association (ICMA), explored how CSDs are leveraging technology and innovation to enhance efficiency and customer value. Mr. Pascoe noted that over his 30 years in capital markets, the industry has shifted from a process-oriented, transactional, and commoditized model to one that is customer-centric, diversified, and data-driven.

“As we look ahead, I think capital markets are going to become ever larger and even more complex. We’ll see larger numbers of securities outstanding as markets grow. The bond markets alone now are $140 trillion equivalent in size,” he said.

Mr. Bandar Alkahail, Chief of Business Development at Edaa (Saudi Arabia CSD), underscored that “data is the new oil” and it can be a new way of diversification. Mr.Adil Mukhamejanov, Chairperson of Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), highlighted AI and technological trends such as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). He stated that KASE is exploring both DLT and AI, collaborating with the National Bank, regulators, and the Central Securities Depository to finalize legislation and design an end-to-end system, from Know Your Customer (KYC) onboarding to settlement, that prioritizes efficiency and customer value.

“We strongly believe that technical innovations and improvements can shape the capital markets, too,” said Mr. Mukhamejanov.

Mr.Jesse Kagoma, CEO at Kenya CSD, discussed strategies to attract investors from emerging regions. Mr. Kagoma said that technology is “a must,” but he underscored that safeguarding cybersecurity is crucial to protect investor accounts and maintain trust.

In the Panel Session I, Settlement Efficiency: Strategies for Improvement, moderated by Mr. Hikmet Can Yılmazsoy, Head of Türkiye, Caucasus, and Central Asia at Swift, accelerated settlement, operational readiness, and cross-border harmonization were central themes. Mr. Kevin Sampson, President of the Canadian CDS at TMX Group, reflected on the country’s transition from T+2 to T+1 in May 2024, which was carried out in lockstep with the United States. He emphasized that alignment was essential given the high level of cross-listed securities and settlement interdependencies between the two markets.

“Misalignment certainly would produce a big issue,” Mr. Sampson said, adding that the move to T+1 in North America was not about fixing fails or match rates, but rather about exploring what could be improved.

Across Europe and the Asia-Pacific, experts have emphasized the importance of infrastructure diversity and governance challenges. Ms. Anna Kulik, Secretary General at ECSDA, highlighted the challenge of building a single capital market in Europe, pointing to the fragmented nature of 27 markets, central banks, and jurisdictions. This fragmentation, in turn, leads to liquidity issues and cross-border settlement difficulties due to differences in company laws, taxation regimes, and central bank practices. Ms. Kulik also expressed regret that global markets failed to agree on a single date for the transition to T+1. Europe, however, managed to do so.

“We have a clear roadmap, which has been developed in Europe. We know what we need to be doing by October 11, 2027, which is the date of implementation of T+1 in Europe,” she said, noting the same deadline was agreed by the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

Ms. Cornelia Dagdag, Managing Director for APAC Enterprise Services at DTCC, noted that while the challenges identified in Europe and the Americas also apply to the Asia-Pacific region, it has distinct structural characteristics that shape its approach. She explained that most APAC markets are vertically organized, with exchanges, CCPs, and depositories consolidated, a legacy of the 1990s.

“In contrast, in horizontal markets like the U.S., margin is entirely under the control of the central counterparty. Margin is a big factor in moving to T+1 in the U.S., but it’s not as critical for many Asian markets,” she said

The final session of the first day Panel Session II, Transformation of CSDs’ IT Architecture, moderated by Mr. Abdulla Jaffar Abdin, President of AMEDA and CEO at Bahrain Clear, examined modernization while balancing stability and innovation. In his opening remarks, he described the CSD IT infrastructure as “powerful, secure, built like fortresses of stone and designed for an age of precision, not for the speed of a bullet train.”

“What is the most critical, yet often invisible foundation of a modern economy, is the trust that when we buy a stock, a bone, or any type of securities, our ownership is real, secure and instantly recognized. This trust is housed in an institution we all know as Central Securities Depository (CSD),” he said.

Mr. Gerard Smith, Vice President and Head of Post Trade Solutions at Nasdaq, shared insights on how CSDs are rethinking their technology strategies and what to expect over the next five years.

As CSDs grow and move away from old, monolithic systems scalability becomes critical, according to him. Some CSDs manage 50,000 accounts, while others run investor-account models that scale up to 50 million. Horizontal scalability is crucial for meeting these demands.

Among future trends, he highlighted the potential for settlement using digital central bank money, which would require a robust, data-centric architecture.

“I can foresee in three to five years’ time, that CSDs would want to be able to settle not just against central bank money, but possibly digital central bank money, stablecoins and other forms of payment systems and other currencies,” said Mr. Smith.

Mr. Bulat Nizamov, Director of Capital Markets Products at СМА, emphasized that architecture is not about specific technologies, such as cloud or blockchain, but about anticipating future capabilities – and, above all, about vision. He also explained that post-trade systems have evolved from simple digital ledgers to today’s proactive, data-driven platforms, but the next “fifth generation” will take it a step further by automatically resolving problems without manual intervention.

Adding further insight, Mr. Hossein Mohammadi, Senior Technology Advisor to the CEO at CSD of Iran , said that the industry cannot chase every shiny new technology. According to him, the real challenge is embedding change in people and processes, not just in code.

Day Two: Embracing Technology, Connectivity, and Resilience

The second day opened with the Executive Panel II, The Future of CSDs: Embracing AI, Blockchain, and Digital Assets, moderated by Mr. Mark Gem, Chairman of ECSDA and Chairperson of the Risk Committee at Clearstream. Panelists explored the transformative impact of AI, DLT, and tokenization. Mr. Binur Zhalenov, Chief Digital Officer at the National Bank of Kazakhstan, highlighted regulatory challenges posed by bot-driven markets:

“In 2024, stablecoin circulation reached $27.6 trillion on Visa and Mastercard, 98% driven by bots, not humans. Regulators must define AI agent rights to prevent systemic risk,” he said.

Mr. Alexandre Kech, CEO of the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), emphasized identity verification: “To fully benefit from blockchain asset access, one should first ensure that all receiving wallets are properly verified and compliant with rules such as Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB), and accredited-investor requirements.”

Mr. Stanley Chan, CEO of CMU OmniClear (Hong Kong CSD), pointed to another critical issue. “It is time for us to think about what the contingency plan will be on all these platforms we are developing. It is a new technology, a new set of rules, and a new mode of operation. But then what will be the contingency plan if something goes wrong?” he said.

The Panel Session III Bridging the Markets: Fostering Global Connectivity and Interoperability, moderated by Ms. Julia McKenny, CEO of the International Securities Services Association (ISSA), focused on linking global markets. Mr.Alejandro Berney, President of ACSDA and Director at CSD ofArgentina, warned that fragmented regulation impedes scale:

“Technology is not the problem – you just pick one. But once you pick one, you implement, and there are newer and better technologies, but without a common framework. We’re seeing this in Latin America as well. …So it is very difficult to create scale, and if we don’t create scale, we’re not really getting efficiency back to the end investor. So he is paying it out of his savings,” he added.

Mr. Pan Yongdong, Deputy General Manager at the China Securities Depository and Clearing (CSDC), highlighted how linking markets is more than just technology. It is about shared rules and trust.

“Connectivity is like building a highway between different markets, while interoperability is like having universal traffic rules so all the cars can move smoothly. When we have both, financial market infrastructures across different markets can communicate and collaborate effectively. This, in turn, makes it easier for investors to trade and invest across borders,” said Mr.Yongdong.

Mr. Phillip Van Dine, Managing Director at Citi, projected digital assets will reach 10% of global market capitalization by 2030, totaling around $16 trillion.

“That’s a lot of replatforming, that’s a lot of development, that’s a lot of investment that needs to go on technology, but it is the only way we’re going to get there,” he said.

Adding a fresh perspective, Mr.Serge Christ, Head of Network Management at Clearstream noted that trust remains the currency of markets. He said that, ultimately, whether the investors are retail or institutional, providing this assurance of security and reliability is a fundamental responsibility that must be consistently delivered.

The Panel Session IV, Establishing Effective Business Continuity Processes to Mitigate Risks in the Post-Trade Industry, examined business continuity and risk mitigation. Ms. Beverley Furman, Head of Operations and Change at Strate, South Africa’s principal central securities depository and central collateral platform, highlighted Strate’s leadership in developing the Orderly Closing and Reopening of Markets (OCRM) framework, a pioneering initiative designed with regulators, exchanges, and CCPs. This playbook simulates how South Africa’s capital markets would shut down and recover in the event of a prolonged power outage or other systemic disruption.

“That is the true sense of resilience – the definition of how you withstand and recover in an extreme situation? We could brainstorm a national blackout, but it is very important to remain trigger-agnostic.

Whether that is a blackout, war, or a national disaster, ensure that your resilience framework is trigger agnostic,” Ms. Furman said.

Mr. Haruna Jalo-Waziri, CEO of Nigeria’s CSD, discussed Nigeria’s experiences of resilience and highlighted the importance of having what he refers to as “muscle memory.”

“It is easy to write policies, set standards, and then also adopt them, but the day it happens, how do you react? You can only be able to react appropriately when you test, you practice, you simulate these things consistently and have that muscle memory so that when it happens, you are able to think appropriately, act appropriately, and by extension, be able to recover,” Mr. Jalo-Waziri said.

Speaking on the evolving landscape of financial market infrastructures (FMIs), Ms. Ani Makaryan, CEO of CSD of Armenia, emphasized the growing reliance on external partners and the need for stronger oversight.

“What we see more and more, is that FMIs are becoming more dependent on the third-party service providers, because they are being more concentrated locally and even more internationally,” said Ms. Makaryan.

Across both days, WFC 2025 highlighted the post-trade industry’s balancing act: embracing innovation while maintaining stability, integrating technology while ensuring interoperability, and expanding market access while ensuring operational resilience. Kazakhstan’s successful hosting highlighted its ambition to become a regional hub of post-trade expertise.

The Kazakhstan Central Securities Depository convened nearly 200 experts from 55 countries under the WFC, uniting five regional associations: ACG, ACSDA, AECSD, ECSDA, and AMEDA, which represent nearly 135 organizations worldwide. WFC 2025 in Almaty demonstrated the global commitment to integrated, technologically advanced, and resilient capital markets, setting the stage for continued cross-border collaboration and innovation.