The European Association of CCP Clearing Houses published a profile interview with Laura Bayley, Chief Executive Officer of SIX x-clear AG, focusing on leadership development and her outlook for the clearing industry over the next decade. Bayley highlights the need for greater assertiveness and earlier conflict resolution as key professional lessons, alongside accepting trade-offs to manage work-life balance. Looking ahead, she points to shortening settlement cycles as a major driver of change, with CCPs increasingly oriented toward enabling settlement efficiency, and expects clearing to expand into additional asset classes. She also anticipates continued consolidation among European CCPs into larger multi-asset firms, while arguing that progress on gender representation in leadership should be matched by greater cultural, racial and religious diversity across clearing teams.