The ISITC Europe's inaugural Market Innovation Summit, held in London on January 24, introduced current topics in the area of innovation with an impact to the financial industry.

Collateral Management is key for the European Central Bank
After T2S, the next priority for the European Central Bank (ECB) is collateral management. During what was a very clear presentation from Helmut Wacket - Head of Market Integration Division, ECB noted that ISO 20022 will be the standard used to define collateral management processes. The scope of the projects includes Corporate Actions and Triparty models. The project is expected to go live by November 2022.

Blockchain and Market Infrastructures
Wacket (ECB) also expressed that according to their analysis on the ECB side DLT is not ready for market infrastructures such as a central bank. The technology has the potential for niche processes but DLT standards and governance are going to be key.
The sentiment during the conference was that most firms are looking, analyzing, and prototyping DLT solutions.

"We still hear the word Fax"
Paul Mawson, from PWC, presented the conclusions of the Asset & Wealth Management Revolution Group. According to the report there is still a lot to do in terms of Straight-Through-Processing (STP) and automation in the asset & wealth management businesses. There are still lots of failed trades and in operations the use of faxes for trade execution and confirmation still remains present.

"Brexit is already happening in the financial industry"
Unsurprisingly Brexit and its potential consequences also loomed large in London, not least the uncertainty that exists around data requirements and standardisation but also about regulation going forward. 

During what was a stimulating exchange of views on the topic of the future of Exchanges, Alasdair Haynes, from Aquis, expressed that Brexit is already happening in the financial industry, referring to the creation of an Aquis entity in Paris to serve the European market.

ISITC North America
Lisa Iagatta, Chair of ISITC North America, presented the priorities for the North American branch of the organization, with its biggest event, the Annual Securities Operations Forum, coming this March 24-27 in Boston.

No single data standard, interaction between them is critical
During an enterprise data panel moderated by Martin Sexton, Co-Chair of the ISITC Europe Standards Working Group, the conclusion was that there is no single standard that will dominate the financial industry in the near future so tools to facilitate the conversion, coexistence, and extraction of the processes and business rules of FpML, FIX, and ISO 20022 are key.