New ICMA report explores the future of primary debt markets
14 July 2026 Primary debt markets remain central to financing governments, businesses and sustainable economic growth. As markets become increasingly complex and expectations around efficiency, automation and digitalisation continue to evolve, market participants face an important challenge: how to modernise without compromising the trust, resilience and liquidity that underpin successful capital markets.
ICMA is pleased to publish the ICMA Primary Market Innovation Project (PMIP) – NextGen report, a comprehensive practitioner-led study examining how primary debt markets can evolve through practical innovation while preserving the strengths of today's market structure. Developed with extensive input from issuers, investors, banks, market infrastructures, legal advisers and technology providers, the report provides a roadmap for improving market efficiency today while preparing for future operating models.
The report is structured around three complementary workstreams:
- Workflow – practical opportunities to improve and automate today's issuance processes.
- Model change – exploring future operating models and the opportunities they could unlock.
- Cross-cutting themes – examining the foundations needed for a safe transition, including data, interoperability, governance, AI and digital market infrastructure.
Rather than advocating wholesale disruption or a single technology solution, the report argues for an evolutionary approach centred on better data, stronger interoperability, workflow modernisation and coordinated industry action. It identifies practical steps that can improve efficiency today while laying the foundations for more scalable, resilient and internationally connected primary markets in the future.
