More than 900 industry professionals have registered for the Securities Traders Association's 93rd Annual Market Structure Conference, set for October 14–16, 2026, at the JW Marriott Washington, DC. Jim Toes, STA President and CEO, expects overnight trading to have the most immediate structural impact over the next year.

The theme is The Future in Focus, a follow to last year's Redefining the Market. In an interview with Traders Magazine, Toes framed the shift plainly: the conversation has moved from speculation to implementation.

"The biggest shift over the past 12 months has been the clarity coming from regulators and legislators, which has moved the conversation toward implementation and what it will take to get it right," Toes said.

Why overnight trading tops the agenda

Toes was direct about sequencing. Tokenization may prove more transformative over a longer horizon. But extended hours come first for desks.

"Overnight trading is likely to have the most immediate impact over the next year," he said. "Moving toward a nearly continuous trading day touches every part of the ecosystem – liquidity provision, market data, clearing, settlement, and risk management."

That's an execution-workflow checklist, not a talking point. Firms provisioning liquidity, consuming market data and managing overnight risk exposure should treat the coming year as preparation time. Toes said as much: "for most firms, the time to prepare is now rather than once the rules are final."

He also linked the two themes. Both overnight trading and tokenization point toward markets that operate more continuously.

Who is speaking — and what regulators will say

The keynote interview features Jamie Selway, Director of the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets. With the Commission's trading and markets agenda in motion, his read on priorities is the session most desks will watch.

FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook and FINRA's Stephanie Dumont will also appear in discussion. Toes positioned STA as the neutral venue: "Having regulators and market participants in the same room is what makes these conversations collaborative and productive."

Which panels carry the most weight?

Two sessions stand out by speaker roster.

• Prediction markets: participants from Kalshi, DraftKings and Robinhood. Toes noted these platforms "have moved quickly into the market structure conversation," with attendees focused on how they fit within regulated trading and the broader oversight framework.
• Tokenization: leaders from Securitize, DTCC and zerohash. With core market infrastructure engaged, the discussion targets moving tokenization "from concept to widespread adoption."

The program also covers AI and capital formation across public and private markets. Toes flagged the intersections — tokenization with ETFs, extended hours with liquidity and risk management, prediction markets with existing regulatory frameworks — as the reason these topics are timely now.

Attendance and what's new

Last year's conference drew record attendance. This year's list is the most senior yet, per Toes:

• More than 900 industry professionals registered
• More than 30 CEOs
• Over 100 C-suite executives
• Roughly 200 heads of trading and other business areas

New for 2026: the first-ever STA Young Professionals Forum. It targets emerging talent but stays open to all attendees, giving rising professionals direct access to the discussions shaping the industry's direction.

Toes also made a practical case for the hallway. Some of the most valuable moments, he said, happen outside the formal program — in hallway conversations and at networking receptions with direct access to industry leaders and peers.

The decisions the industry makes in the coming year, Toes said, will lay the groundwork for both continuous trading and tokenized markets — a framing that puts October's agenda squarely on desks' 12-month planning horizon.