Resiliency Through Unprecedented Market Turbulence

Opening Remarks at SIFMA’s 2025 Operations Conference & Exhibition

Good morning. It is my pleasure to welcome you all to SIFMA’s 52^nd Operations Conference and Exhibition.

We last held this event in September on the heels of the successful transition to T+1, and since then there have been some significant changes. At the very highest level, we have a new administration and that brings both opportunities and challenges for our firms.

At SIFMA, our priorities remain unchanged: we advocate for effective and resilient capital markets. In the Ops space, our focus is to promote efficient market operations, resiliency and informed regulatory compliance. I would be remiss if I did not point out how resilient our markets have been during this recent period of somewhat unprecedented market turbulence. April witnessed dramatic swings with equities and options volumes hitting new records as well as the VIX hitting 60! Treasury markets also swung with a dramatic sell off, recovering with successful auctions and rate normalization. And yet, amidst all the volume and volatility, US markets operated with tremendous resiliency, and with a shortened settlement cycled to boot. This is quite an accomplishment and testament to the hard work and dedication of the people in this room and across our industry.

The regulatory environment has changed as well. Our industry has always been and will continue to be highly regulated, but we appear to be in a more reasonable period than we were a few short months ago. We expect, based on public statements, that the new Administration will take a far different posture toward regulation, enforcement and rulemaking – particularly out of the SEC. That is not to say our work, or yours, is done. Far from it. As you will hear over the next three days there is plenty in the pipeline, such as Treasury clearing and securities lending reporting mandates. And while we expect significant change in direction with regard to the previous administration’s rulemaking agenda, there will no doubt be new mandates, including perhaps rewrites of past rules such as those related to the Consolidated Audit Trail or equity market structure. And, we expect Congress and the Administration to pursue new legislation and policies related to digital assets, both native and tokenized, that will no doubt result in regulations to be implemented.

While it is a different time, marked by both uncertainty and opportunity, one thing remains constant: the work of the operations professional is never done. As the financial services industry continues to undergo rapid transformation, the role of the operational professional across both the buy and sell side is evolving faster than ever before—what once was a behind-the-scenes function is now at the forefront of driving innovation, efficiency, and compliance. And as you can see in our programming over the next three days, and as my colleague Lindsey Keljo, head of SIFMA’s Asset Management Group, will discuss later today, we have endeavored to intersperse more buy side content in this year’s conference.

We commend you for your work and your vital role, which is central to shaping the strategy and future of financial institutions. Thank you for your support of this event. And, with that, it is my great pleasure to kick off today’s programming.

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Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. is President and CEO of SIFMA. From 1995 to 2003, he served as a Member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas. Prior to his service in Congress, Mr. Bentsen was an investment banker specializing in municipal and housing finance.