Voices of ISITC / Dileep Venkatakrishnan, Morgan Stanley; Executive Sponsor, Broker Dealer Forum
A lot is happening across the securities industry that will affect how broker-dealers operate in the years ahead. From extended trading hours and DTCC modernization to the emergence of digital assets, these developments raise operational questions that often require firms to work together to find answers.
That’s an important part of what we’re trying to accomplish through ISITC’s Broker Dealer Forum.
Over the past year, we’ve made progress on several fronts, including broker scorecards standardization and strengthening relationships with other groups within ISITC. These partnerships have been particularly valuable in addressing issues that cut across different parts of the industry.
In September, we hosted a webinar on Extended Trading that brought together industry participants to discuss what longer trading hours could mean for their operations. It was a useful discussion and reinforced something we’ve seen throughout the year: firms benefit from having a place to compare perspectives, identify potential issues and learn from one another as they prepare for change.
We’ve also been working closely with ISITC’s Derivatives Working Group. Our initial work together focused on the Tags & Flags initiative, which aims to improve trade identification and downstream processing. We’ve since expanded that effort to include Equity Swap Re-Rates, where we’re looking at ways to bring greater consistency to industry practices.
As we head into 2027, we’ll continue building on this work while taking on new areas of focus. We plan to work more closely with the Digital Assets Forum on tokenization and related developments, while expanding our efforts around metrics, scorecards and benchmarking.
The upcoming annual ISITC Securities Operations Summit in Boston in early 2027 will provide us another chance to advance these discussions and hear from colleagues across the industry.
I encourage ISITC members interested in these issues to get involved with the Broker Dealer Forum. Whether you’re a broker-dealer or work with broker-dealers, there’s value in sharing experiences and helping shape how we approach these challenges.
Our goal remains simple: connect the right industry participants, identify common challenges, and turn dialogue into practical standards and solutions.