2/12Thursday, February 12, 2026 - MST

This session will explore critical trends in consumer spending, labor markets, equities, fixed income, and commodities, while also examining the impact of monetary and fiscal policies. Prepare to navigate the complexities of today’s economic landscape with actionable insights and expert analysis tailored for the securities finance industry, also including valuable insights on the real estate, manufacturing, and banking sectors, as well as emerging innovations around modern prediction exchanges.

• Did 2025 turn out to be the year of recalibration following the T+1 transition and geopolitical volatility?
• How might the current administration policy shifts affect capital markets, regulatory priorities, and investor sentiment?
• How are anticipated rate cuts shaping the securities finance landscape? Are we seeing renewed appetite for risk or a shift in collateral preferences?
• Which opportunities are top of your agenda moving into 2026?
• Are AI, tokenization, or new market entrants driving innovation?
• How is your business navigating the regulatory pressures from Basel 3.1, T+1, and SFTR? What are the biggest compliance or operational hurdles?
• How are regional regulatory divergences across the US, EU, and UK impacting your strategy?
• What inefficiencies do you consider to be holding back progress most significantly?
• How are you handling increased costs of financing? Are capital charges under Basel III and liquidity constraints reshaping your lending programs?
• What is the health of special trading opportunities?
• Are there signs of recovery or continued pressure from macroeconomic uncertainty?
• Should beneficial owners be taking more risk?

• How is interest rate uncertainty reshaping liquidity strategies for beneficial owners?
• What adjustments are being made to cash reinvestment policies in response to market volatility?
• How are firms reassessing their liquidity buffers to meet operational and regulatory demands?
• What role does collateral flexibility play in navigating rate-driven liquidity constraints?
• Are beneficial owners shifting toward shorter-duration or more conservative reinvestment vehicles?
• How are agent lenders helping clients manage intraday liquidity and recall timing under T+1?
• What tools and technologies are being used to model liquidity risk more effectively?
• How are firms balancing yield optimization with capital preservation in this environment?

Networking benefits everyone. Networking can strengthen business opportunities, expand careers, build confidence, broaden perspectives, and generate new ideas! Join members of Women in Securities Finance for an installment of their successful Grow Your Network program by participating in a curated speed networking session suited for all conference delegates! Meet new business contacts early in the event so you can spend the rest of the conference better getting to know your new connections.  

As is well documented, the investment industry has slowly shifted from active to passive management. Alongside the rise of index funds, ETFs and TDFs have become dominant investment vehicles. However, not all ETFs and TDFs are created equal, and performance differences can exceed fee costs by orders of magnitude. Moreover, these vehicles have brought with them a resurgence in active strategies and blurred the lines between active and passive management. These developments call for a return to the principles of low-cost index investing and the next generation of indexing. Indexing 2.0 focuses on products that enhance index returns, avoids products that claim more than they deliver, and aggregates the wisdom of the crowd in asset allocation.

This session will explore how firms are leveraging data, AI, and emerging technologies to optimize securities lending and drive innovation in post-trade processes. The discussion will delve into the impact of regulations like SEC Rule 10c-1a on data transparency, the role of AI and machine learning in improving allocation models and operational efficiency, and the challenges of applying data across fragmented systems. Additionally, it will examine how blockchain and other technologies are being used to streamline settlement, uncover market inefficiencies, and address barriers to adoption in a cautious yet evolving market.

• How is peer-to-peer lending reshaping access and efficiency in securities finance?
• What innovations are emerging across platforms and digital marketplaces to support direct lending?
• How are beneficial owners evaluating risk frameworks when engaging in P2P structures?
• What are the operational and legal considerations when bypassing traditional intermediaries?
• How does the cost of lending compare across P2P, bilateral, and cleared routes?
• What technologies are enabling real-time matching, collateral management, and risk monitoring?
• Are beneficial owners and borrowers seeing greater flexibility or transparency through P2P platforms?
• What are the barriers to broader adoption — and how are they being addressed?
• Would you recommend P2P as a borrower? As a lender? What are the key trade-offs?

• What are the most promising new markets — and why are regions like Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia gaining attention?
• Are markets such as South Korea and Thailand becoming more operationally complex for securities lending?
• How are non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) driving growth and liquidity in underserved markets?
• What strategies are being used to navigate infrastructure gaps and collateral limitations in emerging regions?
• How do you engage with local regulators and market authorities to ease access for beneficial owners?
• What are the key legal, tax, and operational hurdles to entering markets like Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and the Philippines?
• Who is already active in these regions — and what lessons can be learned from their approach?
• What challenges persist around education, regulatory clarity, and market readiness?
• How do you assess risk and return when expanding into new jurisdictions?