Global PSSL Calls for Input on 2026 Plan to Strengthen Transparency and Accountability in Global Markets
CARDIFF | 17 March 2026
In parts of financial services, commitments and governance standards may be set before financial instruments enter the market, yet visibility across their lifecycle remains limited as those instruments move through the wider financial system. Seeking to address this transparency and accountability gap, Global PSSL CIC today launched a public consultation on its 2026 Action Plan [available here].
The organisation is inviting input from the wider public, including asset owners, market participants, regulators and technology specialists interested in improving transparency across the lifecycle of financial instruments.
The 2026 plan prioritises action over rhetoric, focusing on testing metrics for the ABC Score™ (Assess – Balance – Calibrate™), a FinGovTech mechanism designed to increase transparency in financial services. The United Nations Pathways Programme has been embedded across the entire Action Plan.
ABC Score™ is designed as a governance calibration architecture rather than a static rating product. It focuses primarily on post-issuance financial practices and structural accountability, while progressively extending to governance at the issuance stage.
- For asset owners and investors, this approach can strengthen fiduciary oversight and help protect the long-term value of portfolios against governance risks that may arise after issuance as financial instruments move through the wider financial ecosystem.
- For consumers and pension beneficiaries, greater transparency can support stronger safeguards around how savings are used, including in practices such as securities lending, collateral management and securitisation structures that may influence investment outcomes before and after assets reach the market.
- For intermediaries such as banks, service providers and consultants, ABC Score™ can provide a structured way to demonstrate their commitment to reducing information asymmetries and strengthening trust across financial markets.
- For technology experts, the initiative creates an opportunity to showcase responsible practical solutions, including the use of AI, blockchain and other digital tools that may help inform the ongoing development of the ABC Score™ governance architecture.
- For regulators, it offers a practical, industry-informed blueprint that can support more effective market oversight.
By turning areas of market opacity into calibrated governance data, the 2026 Plan aims to help forward-looking institutions strengthen transparency and resilience in global markets.
Dr Radek Stech, CEO of Global PSSL CIC and Founder of ABC Score™, said:
“I am pleased that we have leadership from asset owners in testing key metrics, and that several other stakeholders will contribute to testing approaches that could benefit consumers, the development community and investors. ABC Score™ presents a unique opportunity, but its development will depend on maintaining strong institutional memory and continued collaboration to advance transparency.
Since 2018, I have worked with many major market participants around these themes and have seen how complex market structures, combined with powerful structural incentives, can lead to fragmentation, loss of transparency and stalled progress. These observations helped shape the development of ABC Score™ as a FinGovTech mechanism aimed at strengthening governance across the lifecycle of financial instruments.”
Stakeholders are invited to submit comments during the consultation period.
Consultation deadline: 26 March 2026
Contact:
Dr Radek Stech – radek.stech@gpssl.org
Secretariat – secretariat@gpssl.org
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About Global PSSL
Global Principles for Sustainable Securities Lending (Global PSSL) is the fundamental global mechanism for aligning securities lending with transparency and sustainable finance. It has been co-created by Dr Radek Stech, prominent asset owners, asset managers, sovereign wealth funds, banks, hedge funds other stakeholders committed to positive change since 2018. Global PSSL has received significant funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, through the Sustainable Finance – Law – Stakeholders (SFLS) Network at Exeter Law School in addition to some financial assistance from some industry stakeholders. The ESRC grant request was designed based on earlier engagement with stakeholders shaping values-based banking, green bonds and sustainable project finance as well as continuous contact, research and discussions with staff from the World Bank (the official partner on the grant). In order to preserve its impartiality, the Global PSSL framework is based within its own independent community interest company.
