An E.U. lawmaker announced her support for shortening the time to settle trades to two days, improving the chances of a common transatlantic approach to curbing settlement risk in securities trading.

At present, the industry standard is T+3, or three days after the trade. The new proposal would change that to T+2. On Thursday UK MEP Kay Swinburne said she would back T+2, allaying fears that she would push for a stricter next-day settlement requirement.

“I do see T+2 as a starting point over time,” she told a conference held by European banking lobby AFME.

U.S. regulators are also looking at shortening the standard American three-day settlement time. With strong resistance against next-day settlement, T+2 seems the most likely outcome there as well.

“The European Commission’s proposal for a T+2 settlement cycle paves the path for increased efficiency across Europe,” said Marianne Brown, chief executive of Omgeo, a company jointly owned by Thomson Reuters and U.S. clearing house DTCC that specializes in trading services.

“Ultimately, it is anticipated that the T+2 initiative in the EU will drive other markets, including the United States, to look at accelerating their settlement cycles.”

Read more about the push for faster settlement times.

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