Founded in London to address inefficiencies in post-trade processing, Banqora was born from Ernst Dolce鈥檚 two decades of front office experience 鈥 and his frustration at the operational bottlenecks that persisted behind the scenes.
鈥淚 managed 鈧300 billion of assets as head of securities financing trading and liquidity solutions for a tier one firm, executed several thousand transactions each year. I saw firsthand just how much time was lost to fragmented processes like confirmation, matching, reconciliation, and collateral management,鈥 Dolce recalls. 鈥淲e wanted to build something that could turn the tech stack into a revenue generator, rather than the cost centre it looks like today.鈥
That vision led to Banqora鈥檚 agentic platform 鈥 designed to streamline middle and back office functions, reduce settlement failures, and help firms capture missed opportunities by integrating front-to-back processes.
The ticking clock of T+1
60 per cent of the market operates on T+1. With T+1 settlement now live in the US, Canada, and Mexico 鈥 and already in place in markets such as India and China 鈥 Dolce warns that Europe鈥檚 window to adapt is closing. Remaining on T+2 will create mismatches that increase operational risk and liquidity pressures.
The most obvious challenge, he says, is time compression. 鈥淧eople think moving from T+2 to T+1 is just a 50 per cent reduction in time, but it鈥檚 more than that. You might go from having 12 hours for affirmation, confirmation, and matching to only two or three. That fundamentally changes how you operate.鈥
Europe鈥檚 complexity adds to the strain. 鈥淚n the US, there鈥檚 one market, one currency, and one central securities depository (CSD) 鈥 the DTCC. In Europe, you have around 30 CSDs, multiple currencies, and each with different cut-off times. Miss the cut-off and your transaction slips a day 鈥 that鈥檚 a real risk under T+1.鈥
Why outdated tools persist
Despite the looming deadlines, many firms are still running critical functions on decades-old infrastructure 鈥 in some cases built on COBOL. The problem, Dolce argues, is both technical and cultural.
鈥淥ver time, banks and asset managers have built layers of infrastructure around tools that are already obsolete. Changing them means unpicking complex connections, so there鈥檚 a huge amount of inertia,鈥 he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 also the mindset: 鈥榠t鈥檚 working, don鈥檛 break it鈥 鈥 even if maintaining it eats 80 per cent of the tech budget.鈥
For Dolce, the key is reframing the conversation from outputs to outcomes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about whether the tool runs 鈥 it鈥檚 about whether it delivers consistent quality and helps you grow your business.鈥 Overcoming resistance requires both education and a clear demonstration of return on investment.
Preparing for T+1 and beyond
Banqora鈥檚 approach to T+1 readiness begins before the trade is executed. 鈥淲e connect pre-trade decisions to post-trade processes, because inefficiencies upstream create bottlenecks later,鈥 Dolce explains.
By analysing where time is lost 鈥 such as lengthy bilateral negotiations conducted via IB chat, email, and voice 鈥 Banqora helps clients reduce the knock-on delays that eat into the compressed T+1 window. From there, the platform moves firms towards 鈥渮ero-time鈥 affirmation, confirmation, matching, and reconciliation.
In securities finance, adaptation has been slower than in other markets. Dolce attributes this to the inherent flexibility of the products. 鈥淩epo and securities lending are built for customisation 鈥 collateral schedules change, terms are negotiated deal-by-deal. You can鈥檛 just drop in a one-size-fits-all process.鈥
The blockchain factor
Dolce sees blockchain as an important technology for intraday transactions in repo, with the potential to remove major inefficiencies. But he warns that partial adoption creates its own challenges.
鈥淚f part of your book is on blockchain and part isn鈥檛, you鈥檙e running two infrastructures. That dual environment creates friction until the blockchain side reaches critical mass,鈥 he says. In the meantime, firms are still creating 鈥渄ummy instruments鈥 in traditional systems to represent on-chain trades 鈥 a workaround that adds complexity rather than removing it.
Breaking the cycle
For Dolce, the goal is to help clients escape the trap of legacy tools and fragmented processes. That means not just replacing systems, but rethinking how pre and post-trade functions are connected 鈥 and building in the flexibility needed for markets like securities finance.
鈥淭+1 isn鈥檛 just a regulatory change 鈥 it鈥檚 a chance to make the whole operation more efficient,鈥 he says. 鈥淏ut you can only do that if you address the culture, the infrastructure, and the processes together.鈥
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Image: Ernst Dolce 