Minutes of the Securities Lending Committee meeting – March 2026

Location: Bank of England, 20 Moorgate, London EC2R 6DA

The Chair opened the meeting and welcomed the members and observers.

The Committee discussed ongoing efforts to attract and develop new talent in the securities finance industry. Recent industry-led events have helped reach a wider audience but members noted hiring strategies which are not always inclusive of a broader range of skills.

There is broad industry consensus that firms are on track for transition in October 2027. Although members expressed some concern around funding mismatches, they noted progress made on the corporate action workstream and CSDs remain engaged. The Committee discussed the complexities of collateral constraints and market close behaviour, noting that pre-emptive processes are lender-dependent but can reduce problems.

Following recent global tensions, the Committee noted some changing behaviour from market participants but the market remained broadly stable. Members noted increased focus on regulatory requirements including capital efficiency and risk-weighted asset optimisation, which influences collateral supply and participation. Demand has been resilient through recent turbulence pointing to market maturity.

Item 5: Digital assets and future infrastructure

Members discussed regulatory alignment and the EU Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP), which will provide deeper capital market integration across the EU. The legislation will modernise settlement finality, collateral rules for tokenised assets and provide legal certainty for Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). Members noted cautious uptake from beneficial owners who have queried insolvency protection, legal certainty around collateral ownership in a default scenario and double-token issuance. Banks continue to explore use-cases in tokenised assets for intraday liquidity, instant settlement, margin call coverage and collateral mobility.