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The New Ops Agenda: Strategy, Scale, and Resilience

Opening Remarks for Day 3 of SIFMA’s 2025 Operations Conference & Exhibition

Good morning and welcome to day three of SIFMA’s Operations Conference and Exhibition.

When we last convened at the Ops conference, I talked about how the past few years for our industry have been marked by change. It’s a constant. Two years ago, the main focus was shortening the settlement cycle to T+1. Right on the heels of that massive undertaking – which went very well – work began to comply with the Treasury and repo clearing mandates on what seemed like an unrealistic timeline. Thankfully, that has changed with the new administration. The SEC, under the leadership then-acting chair Mark Uyeda, rightly acknowledged that the industry needed more time to allow for a smooth transition so as not to disrupt the vital U.S. Treasury market. SIFMA is working with all segments of the industry as we move towards the compliance deadlines and I encourage you to take advantage of our resources and to stay involved with us on this issue.

Beyond Treasury clearing, we see changes ahead in a variety of areas. If we step back and look at the larger role of the people in this room, we see that you are on the front lines of our ever-evolving industry and your roles change in lockstep. As the industry adapts to digital transformation, operational roles are no longer limited to routine tasks—they are central to shaping the strategy and future of financial institutions.

We see four areas where the role of the financial services operational professional is changing, all of which are workstreams of SIFMA’s operations and technology team, and all of which are being explored at this conference in the context of the broader financial services agenda. These four areas are:

  1. Helping firms think through upcoming regulatory changes.
  2. Supporting firms in rolling out new technology.
  3. Understanding the technology infrastructure firms need to increase scale.
  4. Developing operational resiliency to help firms recover from disruptions.

First, turning to the regulatory landscape: Treasury clearing is the biggest focus, but it is not the only one. With the change in administration came a shift in the regulatory regime, and as the new agency heads are confirmed, we are advocating for the best policies for our industry. Whether that is how native digital assets, tokenized securities, and AI are treated, extended trading hours, funding for the Consolidated Audit Trail, equity market structure or any number of other topics important to this group, we are, as ever, working to shape policy for the betterment of our markets. SIFMA’s digital assets task force has been very active the past several months as we develop our response to the SEC Crypto Task Force RFI. This will encompass our recommendations on issues like custody and securities status, and key policy questions around payment stablecoin. The regulatory panel this morning will delve into these topics in greater detail, and several of our speakers will cover how they are adapting to the changing regulatory landscape.

Second, new technologies: this has been a core piece of the operations function since financial institutions started using computers in the 1960s. Then and now, you’re on the front line of adoption. As each new opportunity arises with the promise of more, better faster, you’re assessing it, integrating it seamlessly into existing operations, minimizing disruption, optimizing efficiency, and ensuring the new alignment with business goals, all while considering the regulatory piece and the security issues. And in most cases, you are balancing the promise against the practical. AI holds a great deal of promise but its practical application – and the way it’s most commonly used today – is for the boring functions. Automating part of the operations function sounds dull, but it’s impactful. We know this will expand, and it is going to be exciting to listen to our speakers today talk about where we go from here.

Third, the ways in which technology can scale a business seem limitless. There are endless ways to grow–technology enables streamlined operations, improved efficiencies, and wider audience reach. By leveraging data analytics and innovative tools, businesses can make informed decisions, enhance customer experiences, and scale faster. However, the human touch is still essential, and your expertise is invaluable. While technology can provide the tools and capabilities, it’s the human ability to think outside the box, solve complex problems, and envision new possibilities that drive true innovation. People push the boundaries of existing technology, adapt it to new needs, and come up with groundbreaking ideas that can transform industries and create new markets. Later this morning, DTCC will talk about what they call the art of purposeful innovation, and we will hear more on the theme of the many paths to transforming securities operations.

Finally, ensuring operational resiliency is a key part of what you do every day. It is a critical function. Disruptions—from cyber threats to market volatility—are inevitable. The focus has shifted from simply managing risks to building robust systems and processes that can not only withstand these challenges but also recover quickly and efficiently. Doing this well requires developing a deep understanding of risk management, business continuity, and crisis response. SIFMA leads the industry in supporting our members in this critical resiliency work, through our committees, annual industry-wide business continuity test, biennial Quantum Dawn exercise – which is now done on a global level to reflect the nature of our firms and their interconnectedness around the globe – and we also provide a variety of resources for our members. Recently, we joined several industry leaders from the financial services, energy and technology sectors to urge Congress to take action to reauthorize the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, or CISA, before it expires on September 30 of this year. CISA provides private sector entities with important information and liability protections for sharing cyber threats. Protections around private-public information sharing and collaboration are essential if we are to continue work together to defend against ever more sophisticated nation-state attacks and cybercriminals. We also worked with Protiviti on a paper emphasizing the need to ensure third parties have adequate operational recovery capabilities, as we are only as strong as our weakest link. Today we have two great sessions on this broader topic: we will all participate in a live operational resilience exercise, and later in the morning former CIA covert operations officer Michael Baker will discuss the current geopolitical landscape and the ways cyber intelligence can be leveraged to enhance resiliency.

In closing, these are some of the major issues and priorities SIFMA is currently working on with the operations community, and we very much look forward to the discussions today.

–

Joseph Seidel is Chief Operating Officer of SIFMA. 

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