Taiwan CSD Leads Delegation to the U.S. to Explore Extended Trading and Security Tokenization Trends

Recently, a delegation led by Chairman Chin-Hui Lin of the Taiwan Central Securities Depository (CSD) visited the United States, accompanied by domestic composite委托 securities firms including Fubon Securities and Yuanta Securities. The delegation visited institutions such as Citigroup, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Intercontinental Exchange Group (ICE), Nasdaq, and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), deepening international exchanges on extended trading of U.S. equities and asset tokenization.

The visiting team, starting from Taiwan’s market structure, investor composition, and industry needs, held discussions with U.S. counterparts on core topics including extended trading, settlement and delivery, corporate actions, and securities tokenization.

NYSE and Nasdaq indicated that retail investors from Asia have become a key driving force behind extended trading in U.S. equities. U.S. exchanges are moving toward a '5-day weekly, 23-hour daily' trading model, reserving only one hour for system maintenance, corporate actions, and trading day rollover. Furthermore, the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) has already implemented 24/5 operations, enabling trades in Asian time zones to be incorporated into centralized clearing at an earlier stage.

Regarding securities and RWA tokenization, both NYSE and DTCC emphasized that asset tokenization does not mean the disappearance of existing market intermediaries. The U.S. builds on its existing securities regulations and market infrastructure, ensuring a one-to-one correspondence between traditional securities and their on-chain representations, while preserving identifiers and substantive economic rights.

DTCC has also acquired Securrency to enhance its tokenization and blockchain capabilities and has been granted a three-year trial period by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to continue advancing its multi-chain strategy and evaluating cross-chain interoperability services.

Chin-Hui Lin, Chairman of the Taiwan CSD, noted that extended trading is not merely about extending trading hours, but also ensuring seamless and secure integration of settlement, delivery, custody, and accounting. The CSD will continue to connect with international market infrastructures, global custodian banks, and domestic securities firms to strengthen cross-time-zone operations and risk control.

Chairman Lin added that even if blockchain technology is introduced on the trading front in the future, core back-end functions such as central custody, asset security, rights distribution, and investor services remain indispensable. The CSD will integrate digital securities into its existing cross-border custody, accounting, corporate actions, and regulatory frameworks, achieving an optimal balance between innovation and safety.