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CASLA: Association update
29 May 2026 Canada
Image: mandritoiu/stock.adobe.com
Kicking off the 16th annual Canadian Securities Lending Association (CASLA) conference on Canadian securities lending, panelists gathered to provide updates from their associations, and look to the year ahead.
Looking back over the past 12 months, one panelist noted that much of their recent work has been on regulatory change and the move into implementation.
They highlighted that they have worked with members of the association and regulators to get the implementation deadline of SEC US Treasury clearing rule 10c-1a pushed out, and they are beginning to work with members in terms of advocating for certain points within 10c-1.
One other key focus they detailed was operational resilience, lending itself to discussion around cyber risk, interoperability, and, at a high level, ensuring that securities lending markets continue to function in a safe and transparent way.
The panellists stated that they are spending increasing time helping members to navigate fragmentation, both within the US, but also across markets such as Brazil and Mexico.
Another panelist stated that over the last 10 months, their association has been working heavily on modernising Rule 105 — the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) taxation guideline.
A third speaker said that their association has been operating through four key execution pillars: regulatory advocacy, legal services, market structure, and digitalisation.
It is through these pillars that the association has been pushing to address issues around regulatory change and avoiding inadvertent negative consequences of regulation.
They highlighted that the focus is around the capital side of the industry to ensure that global fragmentation is avoided, and there is consistency, with optimal outcomes for members to operate and drive their commercial strategies.
It was also stated that, from a policy perspective, when discussing advocacy, the focus on growth and innovation is key, and they see their members moving into that space.
Regarding retail lending, the speaker highlighted that they have been working on new initiatives, for example, developing guidance around how to integrate the retail sector into the securities lending industry in a safe way based on best practice and standards, which is used to assist in formulating a consensus-based approach.
Shifting the discussion to the future, one panelist noted that in January 2026, they had four overarching goals, one being advocacy.
They said that they are currently in the middle of responding to Basel III Endgame, with the hope that the Federal Reserve will provide clarity on bankruptcy remote protection (referred to as pledge).
The second goal was to focus on developing markets, with working groups focussed on Brazil, Mexico, and Mercado Integrado Latinoamericano (MILA), including Chile, Colombia, and Peru.
They noted that Brazil is currently the most active market, and they hope that by the end of the year, they will receive further clarity regarding how the market is going to open, especially as the country wants to move to T+1, meaning that having a functioning securities lending market will be helpful.
The third goal for the year is continuing to bring the industry together through events and working groups.
Fourth and finally, the panelist noted the aim to create further alignment with the International Securities Lending Association (ISLA) in creating a global brand and offering, to ensure member firms are seeing the value of the association.
Discussing the year ahead, one panellist spoke about the current regulatory change agenda in Europe, stating their association is advocating for harmonisation, particularly on the technology side across the region where there is fragmentation across 27 states.
They highlighted the move to T+1 for the UK and Europe in 2027 allows firms to develop best practices, which the market can begin to use now when looking at implementation and testing.
Moving the conversation to regulation, one speaker noted that their association has challenged the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules on securities lending and short selling.
The Fifth Circuit remanded the rules to the SEC, and told the commission to conduct a comprehensive analysis as the rules had overlapping comment periods, were adopted on the same day, and the SEC did not consider the aggregate effects.
Despite this, the Commission has not done the economic analysis.
According to the speaker, the association’s primary concern with the securities lending rule is the risk that sensitive position or flow information leaks into the market, and because of this, they decided to challenge the rule in court.
If the SEC were to revisit the rule, it is hoped that it will focus on the wholesale lending market, where institutional lending supports short selling rather than being centred on the retail market, as that is not where loans used to effect short sales are occurring.
Due to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) proposing to enhance or accelerate the frequency of its short reporting regime, it is being encouraged that the SEC relies on that enhanced set of data, rather than imposing its new reporting burden on managers.
The need to support developing markets was emphasised, with the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, being described as a “great success story”. It was noted that the future will involve identifying where there may be opportunities they can unlock for foreign members and deliver value.
Finally, retail lending was mentioned, with one panelist saying they want to get their arms around it, as they see regulators, particularly in the UK, trying to bring those players into the perimeter of regulatory oversight and enforcement.
It is important to work with regulators to ensure that best practice is being conveyed to retail participants, and scaling up is done in the right way, the panel concluded.
Looking back over the past 12 months, one panelist noted that much of their recent work has been on regulatory change and the move into implementation.
They highlighted that they have worked with members of the association and regulators to get the implementation deadline of SEC US Treasury clearing rule 10c-1a pushed out, and they are beginning to work with members in terms of advocating for certain points within 10c-1.
One other key focus they detailed was operational resilience, lending itself to discussion around cyber risk, interoperability, and, at a high level, ensuring that securities lending markets continue to function in a safe and transparent way.
The panellists stated that they are spending increasing time helping members to navigate fragmentation, both within the US, but also across markets such as Brazil and Mexico.
Another panelist stated that over the last 10 months, their association has been working heavily on modernising Rule 105 — the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) taxation guideline.
A third speaker said that their association has been operating through four key execution pillars: regulatory advocacy, legal services, market structure, and digitalisation.
It is through these pillars that the association has been pushing to address issues around regulatory change and avoiding inadvertent negative consequences of regulation.
They highlighted that the focus is around the capital side of the industry to ensure that global fragmentation is avoided, and there is consistency, with optimal outcomes for members to operate and drive their commercial strategies.
It was also stated that, from a policy perspective, when discussing advocacy, the focus on growth and innovation is key, and they see their members moving into that space.
Regarding retail lending, the speaker highlighted that they have been working on new initiatives, for example, developing guidance around how to integrate the retail sector into the securities lending industry in a safe way based on best practice and standards, which is used to assist in formulating a consensus-based approach.
Shifting the discussion to the future, one panelist noted that in January 2026, they had four overarching goals, one being advocacy.
They said that they are currently in the middle of responding to Basel III Endgame, with the hope that the Federal Reserve will provide clarity on bankruptcy remote protection (referred to as pledge).
The second goal was to focus on developing markets, with working groups focussed on Brazil, Mexico, and Mercado Integrado Latinoamericano (MILA), including Chile, Colombia, and Peru.
They noted that Brazil is currently the most active market, and they hope that by the end of the year, they will receive further clarity regarding how the market is going to open, especially as the country wants to move to T+1, meaning that having a functioning securities lending market will be helpful.
The third goal for the year is continuing to bring the industry together through events and working groups.
Fourth and finally, the panelist noted the aim to create further alignment with the International Securities Lending Association (ISLA) in creating a global brand and offering, to ensure member firms are seeing the value of the association.
Discussing the year ahead, one panellist spoke about the current regulatory change agenda in Europe, stating their association is advocating for harmonisation, particularly on the technology side across the region where there is fragmentation across 27 states.
They highlighted the move to T+1 for the UK and Europe in 2027 allows firms to develop best practices, which the market can begin to use now when looking at implementation and testing.
Moving the conversation to regulation, one speaker noted that their association has challenged the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules on securities lending and short selling.
The Fifth Circuit remanded the rules to the SEC, and told the commission to conduct a comprehensive analysis as the rules had overlapping comment periods, were adopted on the same day, and the SEC did not consider the aggregate effects.
Despite this, the Commission has not done the economic analysis.
According to the speaker, the association’s primary concern with the securities lending rule is the risk that sensitive position or flow information leaks into the market, and because of this, they decided to challenge the rule in court.
If the SEC were to revisit the rule, it is hoped that it will focus on the wholesale lending market, where institutional lending supports short selling rather than being centred on the retail market, as that is not where loans used to effect short sales are occurring.
Due to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) proposing to enhance or accelerate the frequency of its short reporting regime, it is being encouraged that the SEC relies on that enhanced set of data, rather than imposing its new reporting burden on managers.
The need to support developing markets was emphasised, with the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, being described as a “great success story”. It was noted that the future will involve identifying where there may be opportunities they can unlock for foreign members and deliver value.
Finally, retail lending was mentioned, with one panelist saying they want to get their arms around it, as they see regulators, particularly in the UK, trying to bring those players into the perimeter of regulatory oversight and enforcement.
It is important to work with regulators to ensure that best practice is being conveyed to retail participants, and scaling up is done in the right way, the panel concluded.
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