Ready or not, T+1 is coming for corporate actions

T+1 brings new urgency to corporate actions

When financial institutions think about the move to T+1 settlement, attention usually goes straight to front-office trading systems and middle-office operations. Yet corporate actions are one of the most critical and overlooked areas. Events may not occur every day, but when they do, they carry significant risk, involve large volumes of data, and demand accurate, timely communication with clients.

Under the current T+2 cycle, firms have had some breathing space to catch errors, chase down missing information, or apply manual fixes. With T+1, the margin for error shrinks dramatically. A mistake in processing a dividend, rights issue, or voluntary event instruction can cascade into missed entitlements, unhappy clients, regulatory exposure, and in some cases material financial loss.

The reality is that many firms still rely on manual processes, and fragmented systems to get through each corporate action cycle. These high-friction processes may just about hold under T+2, but they will not survive under T+1. To help firms assess their T+1 readiness, here is a practical checklist of questions every institution should be asking.

1. Are your processes automated or still manual?

Spreadsheets, email instructions, and manual reconciliations introduce too much risk into a compressed cycle. Automation and straight-through processing (STP) are foundational for announcements, entitlements, and elections - and, under T+1, for critical processes like buyer protections and market claims.

2. Are your key event dates aligned to T+1?

Many firms still work with timelines designed under T+2. Under T+1, corporate actions event dates – record dates, ex-dates, and payment dates - must align with the accelerated settlement cycle, misalignment increases the risk of missed entitlements and downstream claims, so event timelines need re-engineering and validation.

3. Is your data harmonized across the lifecycle?

Corporate actions require accurate and consistent data across front, middle, and back office. Fragmented or mismatched records are a recipe for errors. Using one, clean, harmonized dataset across all processes enables faster, more confident decision-making.

4. Can you deliver real-time notifications to clients?

Investors expect timely, digital communication. Under T+1, delays of even a few hours can cause missed opportunities or incorrect responses. Firms need the ability to push accurate notifications in real-time rather than relying on end-of-day batch reports.

5. How resilient are your processes for voluntary events?

Voluntary events such as tenders or exchange offers carry some of the highest risks because clients are required to make choices within tight timelines. Systems must be able to process these elections accurately and at scale, while withstanding outages or unexpected volumes without failure.

6. Are your buyer protection processes automated?

Manual buyer protection processing is too slow and error-prone for a compressed cycle. Automated buyer protection ensures entitlement obligations are tracked and fulfilled without the delays of manual handoffs, protecting both clients and the firm.

7. Are your market claims handled straight-through?

Market claim volumes inevitably increase when timelines shrink. In T+1, manual claims reconciliation will overwhelm operations. Firms need automated claim generation, matching, and settlement to avoid disputes and operational bottlenecks.

8. Are your systems integrated end-to-end?

Multiple handoffs between siloed systems create opportunities for delay and error. Under T+1, corporate actions workflows must connect seamlessly with proxy, tax, settlement, and reporting functions to ensure speed and consistency.

9. Do you still budget for errors?

Some institutions still treat corporate actions errors as an inevitable cost of doing business. With tighter deadlines, that approach is unsustainable. Avoidable losses must be eliminated through automation, clean data, and strong controls. Budgeting for failure is not an option.

10. Are you planning beyond T+1?

T+1 is just one step. Discussions around T+0 and 24/7 markets are already underway. Firms that treat T+1 as a compliance project are at risk of falling behind again. Future readiness requires a longer-term view incorporating emerging technologies such as AI, analytics, and integrated data.

Finding the right partner

Meeting these challenges is rarely something institutions can tackle alone. The right partner should bring proven technology, global scale, and deep expertise in operational processes. Look for solutions that integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure, align event dates automatically, and support automation across buyer protection, market claims, and all event types.

Passing the test

T+1 is more than just a new deadline. It is a real-world test of whether firms can modernize one of post-trade operations' most complex and error-prone parts. Those who can confidently answer “yes” to the checklist will prove they are ready for faster, more resilient, and more transparent markets. Those who cannot risk financial losses, regulatory scrutiny, and client dissatisfaction. Passing the test means acting now to build the systems, data, and processes that will stand up, not only to T+1, but to the even greater demands for speed and transparency that lie ahead.