20 March 2024

Technology and regulation, challenges for post-trading services

Expansión

The boom of the digital assets, the IA and the regulatory changes are the main challenges that they face today services of postcontracting, key for the security and good operation of the markets.

The industry of the postcontracting or posttrading is not unaware of the stage of disrupción technological that it is shaking the financial sector. These services - that they include the activities of depositary, record-custody, securities compensation and settlement - carry out a decisive function for the transparency and the good operation of the markets. The challenges that faces this activity took part the tenth edition of the meeting Securities Services: Digital assets, IA and regulation, keys in the future of the post-trading, organised by Expansión and Cecabank with the collaboration of Funds People.

«The postcontracting has attracted more refurbishment and regulatory attention that no other field of the financial markets in the last decade », Rodrigo underlined Buenaventura, chairman of the CNMV, during the opening of the event. Besides highlight that the activity of the post-trading enjoys good health in Spain after surviving to different environments regulatory and competitive, Buenaventura highlighted that «it is so significant or more than the world of the trading for the security and the competitiveness of the share markets».

Challenges

José María Méndez, CEO of Cecabank, posed that «this year will be all attention to the regulatory challenges that we have on the table, especially for promote our presence in the businesses related to the digital»assets. It is a «critical»sector, as it stressed the person responsible for Cecabank, that is had become the great national depositary regardless of collective investment institutions, pension funds, EPSV and companies of venture capital, as well as the leading provider of settlement and custody services in Spain.

The first debate table of the meeting put the focus in the potential of the artificial intelligence as differential factor in the investment services. «Is had become a trend of investment in the markets that hoards the curiosity of citizens, mobilises to the organisations supervisors, drives the talent and it is bursting in with force in our work tables », Aurora Cuadros pointed out, corporate director of the area of Securities Services of Cecabank.

Although many companies already came using the IA traditional in specific processes, «the IA generativa speeds up the speed of implementation and shoots the potential to improve tasks or processes», Laura Comas explained, CaixaBank's adviser AM and development director and private banking transformation of CaixaBank. The bank explores the application of this technology in fields as the improvement of the agility of internal processes.

In the same line, «the IA generativa is the major focus of disrupción: it is a very strong technology that it has arrived to stay», Salvador Mas stated, chief executive officer of GPTadvisor. Among others cases of use in investment services, mentioned attendees able to helping to the financial advisers and it predicted changes in the way of conceiving the communication with the client.

Precisely, the European Parliament has just given green light to the Act of the IA. «The primary goal of this regulations is favour the adoption of one IA that it is concentrating on the human being and is reliable: its potential is so tall that it owes control from the beginning», María Vidal said, member of finReg360.

Furthermore, «market infrastructures operated by the Eurosystem are found in an adjustment and permanent update to give the best possible service to the industry in the next few years », Carlos indicated Conesa, payment and market infrastructure Assistant Managing Director of the Banco de España. Conesa added that «the central banks are open to the exploration of new approaches and technologies», with special attention to the tokenización of financial assets.

From the point of view of Jesús Benito, chief executive officer of Iberclear (BME), «we have continue modernising and harmonising the infrastructures, but it will be fundamental that the share market is renewed and is modernised to attract to more investing».

About the regulatory framework in the field of the criptoactivos and other digital assets, «the European regulator has set some clear rules of the game with MiCA: it is not a brake, but instead an advantage to offer security and guarantees to the clients», Israel Rodríguez remarked, director of innovation of Unicaja.

Bit2Me is one of the emerging companies that consider the approval of the regulation MiCA. «We have bet from the beginning for being strict with regard to compliance with standards, and we believe that this long-term plan will have its reward», stated its cofounder Andrei Manuel Costache.

In parallel, «the reform of the Share market's Act is a legislative change very significant because gives for the first time full validity legal to the representation of financial instruments in blockchain», Yael stated H. Oaknín, CEO and cofounder of Token City.

As conclusion, «the function of custody of the assets is not the only one that is owed highlight by the depositaries: its reliability is which does that the investors are brought closer of a safer way to the share markets », Gloria Hernández stressed, member of finReg360 and representative of Adepo (Spanish Association of Depositaries of Collective investment Institutions and Pension funds).

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