Australian regulator sues ASX over alleged false statements on CHESS platform progress

(Reuters) -Australia’s corporate regulator said on Wednesday it was suing the country’s bourse operator ASX Ltd for making “deceptive” statements regarding the timeline to replace its trading platform Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS).

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) alleged ASX’s statements that claimed the replacement of the CHESS platform remained “on-track for go-live” in April 2023 and was “progressing well” were misleading and deceptive.

ASIC alleged the project was not moving ahead as planned when the statements were made in early February 2022 and ASX did not have any “reasonable basis” to imply that the project would meet the timeline.

“We believe this was a collective failure by the ASX Board and senior executives at the time,” ASIC Chair Joe Longo said in a statement.

In late 2022, ASX halted the rebuild of its ageing software using blockchain-based technology citing dysfunctional management, concerns about the product’s complexity and scalability, and difficulty finding experts to support it.

The axing of the project has since resulted in an A$176.3 million ($117.01 million) writedown, an ASIC investigation and raised questions over the integrity of the exchange that hosts companies worth a combined A$2.50 trillion.

“We recognise the significance and serious nature of these proceedings,” ASX CEO Helen Lofthouse said in an exchange filing on Wednesday.

“We cooperated fully with ASIC’s investigation and are now carefully reviewing and considering the allegations.”

ASIC is yet to determine the penalty it will seek for ASX’s alleged contraventions, the regulator said.

($1 = 1.5072 Australian dollars)