This flagship event brings together issuers, banks, investors, regulators, infrastructure providers and policymakers from across markets and jurisdictions.

More than 1,200 senior market participants will gather for an agenda reflecting an industry navigating profound change.

It remains the industry’s most important annual forum for debate, discussion and connection.

Financiers are buzzing about London

The choice of London as host city also feels particularly timely.  As The Economist noted, for the first time in years, financiers are buzzing about London as a place to do business. The city is reasserting itself as a global hub for trading, fintech innovation, regulation and market infrastructure.

As firms increasingly look for stable regulatory frameworks, international connectivity and deep institutional expertise, London continues to be the centre of global capital markets innovation.

London continues to attract international issuance, trading activity and policy dialogue, while benefiting from deep pools of legal, regulatory and financial expertise and an important bridge between European, US, Middle Eastern and Asian capital markets.

A market redefining itself

Capital markets are simultaneously dealing with macroeconomic volatility, changing regulatory frameworks, pressure for greater efficiency, and the accelerating digitisation of financial infrastructure. 

The agenda also reflects the growing recognition that operational efficiency and market infrastructure are now strategic issues. Topics including settlement reform, repo market resilience, transparency, data standards and post-trade harmonisation have moved from technical discussions into boardroom priorities.

Against a backdrop of geopolitical fragmentation and ongoing market volatility, delegates will be looking for practical insight into how the industry can balance innovation with stability.

Tokenisation moves into the mainstream

Perhaps the clearest signal from this year’s agenda is how firmly tokenisation and digital assets have entered the mainstream capital markets conversation. 

This structural transformation already underway. ICMA describes tokenisation as the next chapter of capital markets, with distributed ledger technology increasingly influencing how bonds are issued, settled and managed.

Digital money and wholesale settlement, smart contracts and programmable securities, digital collateral and repo markets and interoperability between traditional and digital infrastructure will all be discussed.

The conference comes as governments, central banks and market infrastructures across Europe, Asia and the Middle East continue to test and scale digital securities initiatives.

ICMA’s FinTech and Digitalisation workstreams have highlighted growing momentum behind digital bonds, stablecoins in capital markets, and the automation of debt securities lifecycle events using smart contracts. 

Standards such as ICMA’s Bond Data Taxonomy (BDT) can improve interoperability and support automation across both traditional and digital bond markets.

Artificial intelligence enters the regulatory spotlight

The financial sector’s use of artificial intelligence is expanding rapidly, particularly in trading analytics, liquidity assessment, pricing models and operational automation. But regulatory scrutiny is intensifying just as quickly.

Recent discussions within ICMA’s AI in Capital Markets working groups have focused on governance, accountability and operational risk, while UK policymakers have warned that regulators may be underestimating the systemic implications of AI adoption in financial services.

Firms are now assessing how AI can be integrated into live market infrastructure and operational workflows while maintaining transparency, resilience and accountability.

Sustainable finance evolves beyond labels

Sustainable finance remains central to ICMA’s agenda, but the conversation is becoming more sophisticated with a focus increasingly on credibility, implementation and transition.

ICMA’s recent research has highlighted growing scrutiny around ESG ratings, sustainability data products and disclosure regimes, while market participants continue to assess how transition finance can move from concept to scalable market practice.

There is also increasing interest in how sustainable finance intersects with technology and infrastructure innovation. Digital bond issuance, data standardisation and improved reporting frameworks are all becoming part of the broader sustainability conversation.

Market structure, liquidity and resilience remain critical

Alongside innovation, the conference agenda makes clear that traditional market structure issues remain a major focus.

Fixed income markets continue to face questions around liquidity, transparency and resilience, particularly during periods of stress.

Sessions linked to repo markets, settlement efficiency and secondary market structure are likely to attract strong interest, particularly in preparation for T+1 settlement, as regulators continue to examine systemic resilience. 

This is a subject close to our hearts. Chatsworth is working with the UK’s Accelerated Settlement Taskforce to communicate this change across the industry, in co-ordination with our European friends and support partner, Euroclear.

The forum for capital market leaders

ICMA’s AGM continues to provide a forum where policymakers, infrastructure providers and market participants can debate how the next generation of capital markets will function.

Together, the programme reflects the breadth of issues facing global capital markets, from economic competitiveness and market integration to technological innovation, digital infrastructure and the future role of Europe and the UK in global finance. 

It arrives at a pivotal moment: geopolitical uncertainty remains elevated, regulation is evolving rapidly, and digital innovation is moving from experimentation to implementation.

The future of capital markets is being built and the conversations taking place in London this month will help define how quickly that future arrives.