CSDR Refit or the regulatory T+1

T+1 news has just moved to the legislator and regulator side through two publications, the publication in the Official Journal of the EU of the revision of the CSD Regulation – CSDR- (2025/022¹ published on 14 October 2025) to incorporate the shortening of the settlement cycle and the publication of ESMA’s final report² containing its proposals for amendments to the Delegated Regulation (published on 13 October 2025).

While the publication of CSDR Refit is not surprising, as the official text is that of the compromise reached before summer 2025, the one concerning the revision of Delegated Regulation 2018/1229 risks triggering comments and reactions. The consultation launched by ESMA to feed into its reflections had already surprised by its timetable since it was awaiting answers to questions still under discussion in the many technical workstreams of European governance. The result is also surprising since it transforms some recommendations from the Industry Committee’s High-Level Report³ into regulatory obligations. While some are welcome, others raise issues such as the deadline for sending all its settlement instructions to CSDs. Another reason for surprise is that ESMA takes a position on issues that are the subject of complementary work still under way within the dedicated Task Forces.

The Industry Committee’s watchword is “adhere or explain”. There is therefore no doubt that all players are required to follow the recommendations that concern them; the success of this transition to T+1 is at stake. However, it offers an exit door for dealing with exceptions. This point is all the more important since, whether in “recommendation” mode or “obligation” mode, these new requirements would apply to all post-trade activity whether or not the transaction is subject to the T+1 move.