Pressure is growing on industry and government to respond to 2021’s extreme stock market volatility. Following on the controversy around the GameStop retail buy-side suspensions, one of the remedies being discussed is shortening of the settlement cycle and, perhaps, even a shift to real-time settlement in the US equity markets. Yet the practicality of the situation is that most of the banks and dealers in the securities financing sector just can’t operate real-time in today's environment. The timeline for financing activity, which underpins much of the trading by professionals in today's markets, as well as the lending of securities by institutional investors, cannot easily be compressed. For that reason, equity financing's capabilities are prime considerations for any change in the market infrastructure. Yes, trades can be executed in real-time, but trades are not the same as loans.