Navigating T+1 and the rise of round-the-clock trading

July 18, 2025

As financial markets edge closer to 24/5 and even 24/7 trading, the pressure is mounting on firms to modernise their infrastructures and processes. What was once the domain of foreign exchange and, more recently, digital assets, is now seeping into traditional equities, driven by growing demand from both retail and institutional investors.

Devexperts, a developer of capital markets software, recently delved into how firms can meet the challenges of T+1 and 24/5 trading.

For decades, equity trading lagged behind in terms of extended market hours. FX trading, operating across multiple overlapping global sessions, gave early access to non-stop activity. Digital assets pushed this even further, establishing a 24/7 norm. As digital assets become increasingly correlated with equities, it is now common for investors to use digital currencies to trade on equity market sentiment outside of trading hours.

This shift in investor behaviour—especially among younger, more globally distributed retail participants—has prompted exchanges to rethink access. As a result, regulators and trading venues are moving to shorten settlement cycles and expand operating hours, bringing us closer to around-the-clock equities trading, it said.

In the US, major exchanges are leading the charge. The NYSE has received SEC approval to extend its operating hours to 22 hours per day, and Nasdaq plans to transition to 24/5 trading by 2026, pending regulatory sign-off. Meanwhile, the CBOE is also seeking approval to expand 24/5 trading capabilities on its EDGX Equities exchange. These changes are a direct response to increased global investor participation and the demand for access across more time zones.

Expanded trading hours and faster settlements are interlinked. The shift to T+1 in the US, following moves from T+3 to T+2 in previous years, has reduced credit exposure and systemic risk, supporting the longer trading days.

The transition to T+1 was not undertaken lightly. The US—home to the world’s largest equities market—took time to ensure the move was properly coordinated. Cross-industry collaboration proved essential, as firms participated in working groups and aligned closely with regulators. This model of collaboration will likely guide other regions such as Europe, the UK, and Switzerland, which plan to implement T+1 in 2027.

Industry bodies played a key role in this transition. In the US, groups like the Investment Company Institute (ICI) and SIFMA were central to managing communications and aligning stakeholders. Their European counterparts—AFME and the Investment Association—will likely have similar roles as the 2027 deadline approaches.

However, planning is only half the battle. Many firms resist infrastructure changes, opting instead to work around ageing systems. But as market conditions shift and competitor upgrades accelerate, such resistance becomes increasingly costly. Technical debt, operational risk, and uncompetitive offerings all weigh heavily on firms unwilling to evolve.

Devexperts addresses these challenges through a collaborative discovery phase. This involves mapping dependencies, identifying technical bottlenecks, and tailoring solutions without forcing firms into vendor lock-in. Devexperts’ open APIs and third-party integrations are designed to ease transition and support agile change, rather than wholesale disruption.

The firm’s track record in asset-agnostic markets and uptime-critical environments speaks for itself. From listed securities to digital asset exchanges and FX brokers, Devexperts builds systems that support continuous uptime.

For firms aiming to operate seamlessly in a 24/5 environment, Devexperts recommends modular system design, rolling restarts for updates, and administrative applications for business logic changes without system restarts. Replication strategies are also key—ensuring systems can scale horizontally and continue operating despite localised outages or upgrades.

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