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About the event

AFME’s Annual Operations, Post-Trade, Technology & Innovation conference brings together the industry’s leading voices, to discuss the role of technology in developing and transforming capital markets in Europe, with particular focus on the world of operations and post trade.

OPTIC 2025 will take place in Amsterdam, with a two-day agenda packed with keynote addresses from regulatory authorities, thought-provoking panels and speeches from Europe’s leading financial institutions and technology providers and ample networking opportunities for attendees.

Set against a backdrop of growing cyber risks, rapid technological innovation and regulatory changes, set to transform the way capital markets operate, delegates will receive key insights on the most important innovations happening now, how new technologies and innovations can be implemented at scale and help transform capital markets as well what challenges new technologies may present.

Delegates will hear from practitioners, technologists, and key policymakers. Our expert speakers will discuss the opportunities and challenges that are unique to Europe and contemplate whether the capital markets ecosystem and its underpinning regulatory framework, is well-positioned to support innovation.

Key themes will included the transformation of capital markets towards T+1 settlement and how innovations in data and data analytics – in particularly (generative) AI and DLT – can help enhance efficiency and security of capital markets operations.

This event is attended by senior capital market professionals working in operations, post-trade, technology, regulation and policy.

Early-bird Registration fees (valid until Wednesday 23 July 2025):
• AFME member: €769+ VAT
• Non member: €1,199 + VAT

Regular Registration fees:
• AFME member: €999 + VAT
• Non member: €1,379 + VAT

Multi-booking discount:
• 10% off when booking 3 or more delegates at the same time
• 20% off when booking 5 or more delegates at the same time

Multi booking discounts can be applied at check out for group booking.

Complimentary subject to verification:
• Regulator: promo code REGULATOR
• Press: promo code PRESS
Note: Promo codes are case sensitive

To discuss sponsorship opportunities, please contact Cheryl Chickowski at [email protected] or on +44 (0)7824 874 391.

Read AFME's Press Policy here.

Partners

Lead Partners
Partners
Associate Partners
Media Partner

Who attends?

  • Heads of Post Trade
  • COOs
  • Market structure specialists
  • Regulators
  • Policymakers
  • Clearing and settlement houses
  • Law firms
  • Consultancies
  • Trading platforms and technology providers
  • Financial associations
  • AFME members
  • Investment banks
  • European supervisory authorities
  • National competent authorities
  • Clearing and settlement houses
  • Exchanges
  • Asset managers
  • Technology providers
  • Professional services
  • Fintech start-ups
  • Investors

Why attend?

  • Hear keynote speeches from global industry, technology and regulatory leaders
  • 70+ leading speakers representing global banks, service providers, policymakers and regulators
  • Network with a European audience of over 350 senior registrants
  • Over ten hours of dedicated networking in the exhibition space
  • Exclusive content delivered over three half days of high-level debate and discussion. Content designed and driven by market participants

Registration enquiries

For registration enquiries, please contact Events on [email protected] for assistance.

Tuesday 7 October

08:00
Welcome registration and refreshments
08:45
Opening remarks
View
09:00
Opening keynote
Speaker:
Steven Maijoor,
Executive Board Member and Chair of Supervision, De Nederlandsche Bank
View speakers
09:30
Panel discussion: Delivering Europe’s Competitiveness Agenda: the Role of Technology and Innovation
  • Improving the competitiveness of Europe’s capital markets is a key political priority. How can the public and private sector work together innovatively to achieve this goal?
  • What role can new technology play in promoting greater integration, scalability and efficiency?
View details
10:15
Presentation
View
10:30
Networking break
11:00
Panel discussion: Clearing the Path: The Future of Cash Equity Clearing in Europe
Stream A
  • How has regulation shaped the current clearing landscape, and what further regulatory changes are needed?
  • What are the key trends in cash equity clearing in Europe, and how do they compare to other regions?
  • What innovations or market developments could drive greater clearing adoption in Europe?
Speakers:
Laura Bayley,
Head of Clearing Services, SIX
María José Gómez Yubero,
Head of Resolution, Benchmarks and Financial Stability, Spanish National Securities Market Commission
View details & speakers
Panel discussion: Harnessing AI for Capital Markets: Enhancing Post-Trade, Risk, Operations & Infrastructure
Stream B
  • EU AI Act: regulatory framework and impact on capital markets
  • Third-Party AI Risk Management: challenges and best practices
  • GenAI-Related Cyber Risks: threats and mitigation strategies
  • AI Governance in Financial Institutions: balancing innovation with compliance
Speaker:
Fiona Ghosh,
Partner, Digital Economy Transactions, Ashurst
View details & speakers
Roundtable A
Invitation only roundtables
View
11:45
Panel discussion: Modernising Asset Servicing: Challenges and Opportunities
Stream A
  • How can we future-proof standards and processes to be adaptable for shorter settlement cycles?
  • Where are new technologies being used to improve corporate action processes?
  • Is a lack of harmonisation holding back cross-border issuance and investment?
Speaker:
Richard van Etten,
Head of Corporate Broking & Issuer Services, ABN Amro
View details & speakers
Panel discussion: Operational Resilience: Have your Third Party Providers been designated as Critical?
Stream B
  • Hear what critical designation means for your procurement.
  • Understand the views of CTPs on information sharing
  • Explore the risks to market choice
View details
12:30
Networking lunch
13:30
Panel discussion: T+1: Where are we now, and what’s next?
Stream A
  • How are T+1 implementation projects progressing in the EU, UK and Switzerland?
  • What should firms be prioritising in 2026?
Speakers:
Andrew Douglas,
Chair, UK Accelerated Settlement Taskforce
Giovanni Sabatini,
Independent Chair, EUT+1 Industry Committee
View details & speakers
Panel discussion: US Regulatory and Political Landscape
Stream B
  • What are the emerging capital markets policy priorities of the new administration?
  • What has been the impact of a more market-friendly approach to digital assets?
  • What does the rise of 24-hour trading mean for post-trade?
  • US Treasury Clearing – how is the market preparing for this step change?
Speaker:
Charles DeSimone,
Managing Director and Deputy Head of the Technology, Operations, and BCP group, SIFMA
View details & speakers
Roundtable B: Future Leaders
Invitation only roundtables
View
14:00
Panel discussion: The Future of Settlement in Europe: CSDR, T+1, and the Power of Data
Stream A
  • How has CSDR influenced settlement efficiency in Europe so far, and what are the remaining pain points for market participants?
  • What is the role played by data in regard to enhancing settlement efficiency?
  • CSDs and other infrastructure providers play a critical role in settlement efficiency. How are they preparing for T+1, and what changes will they need to implement?
Speakers:
Daniel Carpenter,
CEO, Meritsoft a Cognizant company
Mack Gill,
Head of Securities Processing, FIS Capital Markets
View details & speakers
Panel discussion: Crypto- Institutional Adoption
Stream B
  • Given that MiCA will have been live for 10 months, and growing institutional interest and participation, how is the European landscape for institutional crypto asset adoption shaping up?
  • What are outstanding operational, legal, and policy challenges to providing crypto asset services and building liquidity?
  • Are we heading towards a convergence of TradFi and DeFi?
View details
14:45
Networking coffee break
15:15
Presentation: Quantum
View
15:30
Panel discussion: The Future of AI in Finance: Balancing Innovation with Regulatory Oversight
  • AI in Post-Trade Efficiency – How can AI improve reconciliation, settlement, and trade matching?
  • AI-Driven Risk & Compliance – How can AI improve detection and mitigation of existing risks, what new risks stem from AI?
  • Operational AI & Market Intelligence – How can AI improve operational efficiency across financial services, including optimising execution, liquidity sourcing, and analytics?
  • Infrastructure & AI Scalability – Where can AI add value to capital markets infrastructure and what are the best practices / challenges of integrating AI into workflows
View details
16:15
Fireside chat
View
16:45
Closing remarks
View
17:00
Drinks reception

Wednesday 8 October

08:00
Welcome registration and refreshments
In Conversation with the Women of OPTIC
08:45
Opening remarks
View
09:00
Keynote address
View
09:30
Panel discussion: The Future of Financial Market Infrastructure: Creating Competition and Innovation across the Post Trade Lifecycle
  • The fragmentation of Europe’s FMI landscape is in the spotlight – what are the benefits and challenges of the current model?
  • How can we create a more cost-efficient environment to boost growth of European markets?
  • How are FMIs and their users experimenting with new technologies? Do these present the route to an alternative model?
Speaker:
Jennifer Robertson,
Head of Unit, Financial Market Infrastructure, DG FISMA, European Commission
View details & speakers
10:15
Presentation
View
10:30
Networking coffee break
11:00
Panel discussion: Tokenisation
Stream B
  • What is the market readiness of different assets for tokenisation? This session will evaluate and assess the value of different practical use cases , e.g. fixed income, commodities, equities, asset backed securities, and repos
  • What is the ideal infrastructure set-up to create integration and pool liquidity towards achieving a token economy?
View details
Panel discussion: Pre-trade Efficiency: Streamlining Data Collection Processes
Stream A
  • Regulatory and cost pressures have highlighted the importance of robust, timely and accurate exchange of core client/counterparty data
  • Where can market utilities play a role in facilitating this process and centrally collecting SSI and KYC information?
  • What could a potential decentralised solution look like?
Speaker:
Mimi Yan,
Senior Technical Specialist, Financial Markets Standards Board
View details & speakers
Roundtable C
Invitation only roundtables
View
11:45
Panel discussion: Resilience tools for capital markets and the role of Cloud portability
Stream A
  • Hear how the ECB Outsourcing Guidelines are impacting the provision of Cloud Services.
  • Discuss both the opportunities from multi-vendor strategies and the risks within Data portability.
  • Explore how and if peers are shifting towards on-premise capability.
View details
Panel discussion: Digital Assets Custody: The Keys to Growth
Stream B
  • With growing demand for custody services for digital assets, how is the landscape evolving?
  • How do operating models compare to traditional custody?
  • What are the legal and regulatory issues to address?
Speaker:
Etay Katz,
Head of Digital Assets and Financial Innovation, Ashurst
View details & speakers
12:30
Networking lunch
Lunch & learn
13:30
Fireside chat
View
14:00
Panel discussion: Threats and Opportunities facing Operations
  • The role of cyber criminals and how they are exploiting firms’ digitalisation
  • Navigating the challenges of geo-political risk
  • The break-down of front-office vs back-office dynamics and how to avoid the creation of New Tech silos
  • The growing interdependencies with global tech providers
View details
14:45
Closing remarks
View
15:00
Conference ends

Keynote Speakers

Alexandra Jour-Schröder

Deputy Director General, European Commission

Steven Maijoor

Executive Board Member and Chair of Supervision, De Nederlandsche Bank

Other Speakers

Andreas Papaetis

Senior Policy Expert, European Banking Authority

Andrew Douglas

Chair, UK Accelerated Settlement Taskforce

Daniel Carpenter

CEO, Meritsoft a Cognizant company

Etay Katz

Head of Digital Assets and Financial Innovation, Ashurst

Fiona Ghosh

Partner, Digital Economy Transactions, Ashurst

Giovanni Sabatini

Independent Chair, EUT+1 Industry Committee

Jennifer Robertson

Head of Unit, Financial Market Infrastructure, DG FISMA, European Commission

Laura Bayley

Head of Clearing Services, SIX

Mack Gill

Head of Securities Processing, FIS Capital Markets

María José Gómez Yubero

Head of Resolution, Benchmarks and Financial Stability, Spanish National Securities Market Commission

Mimi Yan

Senior Technical Specialist, Financial Markets Standards Board

Vikesh Patel

President & CEO, Cboe Clear Europe