T2S, now slated to go live in mid-2015 following a series of delays, is the European Central Bank's controversial plan to streamline the continent's securities settlement structure.

Last year Europe's central banks awarded two T2S connectivity licenses: one to Swift and the other to a consortium made up of SIA and Colt. The two winners were told to design and build the networks linking central securities depositories with the ECB, and then charge fees to users.

SIX Securities Services has opted for Swift VAN when it goes live on T2S in 2015, ensuring what Swift claims will be the "secure exchange of business information, in ISO 20022 format, with the highest resilience, at the best price and with the least upfront cost".

Thomas Zeeb, CEO, SIX Securities Services, says: "As the only current provider of international CSD services joining in wave 1, we are demonstrating our commitment to offering our community the highest levels of service in the T2S environment. Swift's connectivity solution for T2S is the right foundation for our offering, bringing the resilience, reliability and competitive pricing we need."

Separately, a survey by Swift shows despite powerful incentives - led by regulation, cost reduction and risk management - to increase post-trade automation, budgets to achieve it are tight.

Most respondents expect their budgets for post-trade to either remain the same or decrease in the period to 2015. Indeed, the number one barrier to achieving post-trade efficiency goals is identified as budget constraints, followed by a lack of commitment to use standardised solutions and agreed market practice.

When asked to select the single development that would make the biggest impact on post-trade operational efficiency, respondents' joint top answer is 'widespread adoption of standardised messaging for communication' and 'availability of a true multi-asset class confirmation system'.

Read the full survey results here