The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has issued Circular 780. The new circular refers to the new regulatory requirements and supervisory expectations to support the market-wide transition to T+1 securities settlement. CySEC also calls on affected entities to participate in two specialised surveys conducted in parallel by NCAs and EUIC, which will remain open until 9 June.
The Circular aims to strengthen market resilience, reduce counterparty and operational risk and align domestic market practices with evolving international settlement standards.
Key measures
The Circular refers to the regulatory requirements for stakeholders across the securities trading and settlement chain, including central securities depositories, central counterparties, custodians, brokers and other intermediaries, as well as market participants such as asset managers and investors.
The new regulatory requirements apply to transactions in transferable securities executed on trading venues and falling within the scope of Article 5 of the EU Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR), as amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/2075. T+1 settlement means securities transactions are expected to settle one business day after a trade is executed.
Key areas addressed include:
- Shortened processing timelines: Institutional investors, intermediaries and fund administrators will have substantially less time to allocate, confirm, match and settle transactions.
- Increased reliance on automation: Operational inefficiencies and manual processing will create heightened settlement risk, making manual workflows practically obsolete.
- Liquidity and funding pressures: Funding, collateral and margin requirements will need to be managed earlier in the settlement cycle. Market participants must ensure timely availability of cash and securities for settlement purposes.
- Cross-border operational challenges: Cross-border transactions may become more operationally complex due to differing time zones, foreign exchange execution timelines, and pre-funding requirements.
T+1 readiness surveys
To support implementation planning and supervisory insight, CySEC is requesting that all Regulated Entities impacted by the transition participate in a short, voluntary National Competent Authorities’ survey. Responses to the survey will be accessible only to CySEC and ESMA.
In addition, Regulated Entities should respond to a second EUIC readiness survey, which aims to support industry awareness and the level of preparedness across EU member states for the transition to T+1.
The survey will collect information on current settlement cycle performance and fail rates, process and system readiness, third party/vendor dependencies, testing plans and milestones and key risks, constraints and support needed.
Submission method:
- For the ESMA National Competent Authorities’ survey, please respond via the following link on the CySEC website: EUSurvey - Survey (5 questions)
- For the EU T+1 Industry Committee (EUIC) second readiness survey, please visit the following link: 2025 EUICT1 (2026H1) (10-15 minutes duration)
“Significant operational change”
Dr George Theochardies, Chair of the CySEC, said: “Transitioning to T+1 is a significant operational change for the market and requires Regulated Entities to review and adapt their systems, controls and operational processes across the entire trading and post-trading chain. The new Circular refers to clear requirements for Regulated Entities to assess the impact on their activities sufficiently in advance to ensure a smooth and timely transition that enhances market resilience.
All in-scope regulated entities are requested to complete the NCAs and EUIC readiness surveys by the stated deadline to enable the monitoring of readiness levels, the identification of any challenges, and the assessment of progress towards the implementation timeline for T+1.”
