Switzerland and Liechtenstein move to T+1 with the EU and UK

Settlement is the step after a trade in which securities pass to the buyer and cash to the seller. Switzerland and Liechtenstein plan to shorten this step from two business days after the trade (T+2) to one (T+1) on 11 October 2027, as SIX and the Swiss Securities Post-Trade Council (swissSPTC) announced (external site). The switch is coordinated with the EU and the UK, so the three markets move on the same day.

The plan rests on recommendations of the swissSPTC (external site), which set its scope and timeline, and on the T+1 project plan that SIX publishes for its members (SIX project overview (external site)).

The new cycle covers secondary market trades on Swiss regulated trading venues that settle in a central securities depository (CSD), according to the swissSPTC recommendations (external site). As an example, a share bought on a Thursday settles on the Friday instead of the following Monday.

Some activity keeps its current treatment. Securities financing transactions, Swiss collective investment schemes, investment foundations and derivatives stay as they are, under the same recommendations (external site).

Corporate actions are timed around the switch. Issuers are advised not to announce events with key dates between 4 and 15 October 2027, and no ex-date falls on Monday 11 October 2027, according to the swissSPTC final report of 14 November 2025 (external site). The ex-date is the first day on which a buyer no longer receives a pending dividend or right.

The switch reaches banks, securities firms, custodians and asset managers that trade on Swiss venues, and the market infrastructure of SIX, as the media release sets out (external site). Roles directly affected include:

• Settlements Analyst: instructions and matching for Swiss trades run on a one-day cycle.
• Corporate Actions Analyst: event calendars around 11 October 2027 follow the changeover rules on ex-dates.
• Custody Operations Analyst: client instructions reach the Swiss CSD within the shorter window.
• Middle Office Analyst: trade details are checked and released for settlement on the trade date.
• Reconciliations Analyst: positions and cash are matched against settlements that arrive one day earlier.

The swissSPTC recommended the date of 11 October 2027 on 23 January 2025, according to its recommendations (external site). SIX and the swissSPTC announced their joint work on the transition on 12 September 2025 (media release (external site)).

If one of the other jurisdictions moves later, the Swiss market aims to align with the first mover, though not before 11 October 2027 (swissSPTC recommendations (external site)). SIX plans industry testing windows through 2027, with its changes entering production in June 2027 (SIX T+1 project overview (external site)).

Several large markets already settle within one business day of the trade, among them the United States, Canada, China and India, as the European Commission noted (external site).

The EU fixed 11 October 2027 for its own switch in Regulation (EU) 2025/2075 (external site), and the UK plans the same date. The Swiss date was chosen to match theirs, as the media release states (external site).