Citi Securities Services Evolution 2025

Securities Services Evolution 2025 | 25 At the nexus of these two (traditional and decentralized worlds, we are even seeing old roles (re)presenting themselves in the crypto-currency space. In a world of real-time, continuous (crypto-currency) transactions, high frequency traders and banks are now rebuilding the role of Central Clearing Counterparties (CCP), as ClearToken 28 is demonstrating in the UK. By applying the benefits of netting and risk management to crypto-currencies, the world’s largest trading organizations are rebuilding the world’s traditional capital market structures, in a digital context . How accessible will this liquidity be? Based on our survey, firms are 10%more likely to be using private blockchain networks for their regulated activities than they were in 2024. As we near industry-scale adoption for key activities such as margining and collateral, firms are reducing their execution and ongoing risks by leaning more heavily on their FMIs and their banks (in particular) to provide resilient and secure network connectivity, as they have to date. Now is not the time to be taking (network) risks – even if that means (knowingly) creating more ‘walled gardens’ of isolated liquidity. However, that does not mean that networks will remain private forever though. 2025 has also seen significant progress made by networks such as Canton 29 to provide the security and data benefits of private networks, in a permissioned, public network context . By helping firms to conduct their daily activities without divulging positions or trade information unnecessarily to the wrong parties, and without incurring additional cyber-security risks, these networks will be key in striking the right balance between network security and investor reach. Regulatory initiatives such as the MAS’ Global Layer One initiative, and Europe’s Regulated Layer One share this same focus and look set to provide further clarity on the private vs public network debate in 2026. Figure 14: Expected network types by 2030 Private networks lead the way Question: For the following activities, who do you expect to manage the tokenization of underlying securities on the network? Expressed as: % of respondents, per activity. Private, managed by FMIs Private, managed by Banks Private, managed by technology companies Public, permissioned Public, permissionless Funds trading 23% 30% 26% 14% 7% Equities trading 29% 32% 23% 10% 6% Fixed income trading 24% 33% 28% 9% 5% Private assets trading 21% 34% 28% 16% 2% Derivatives trading 20% 34% 25% 16% 4% OTC collateral 22% 37% 25% 13% 3% CCP margining 19% 40% 25% 13% 3% 15% 19% 29% 15% 8% 14% Figure 13: Expected tokenizers of securities for network use Question: For the following activities, who do you expect to manage the tokenization of underlying securities on the network? Issuers/ Transfer agents 15% Custodians 29% FMIs 19% Tri-party agents 15% Technology providers 14% Commercial Banks 8%