SYDNEY, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Australia's financial regulator has launched an inquiry into the governance, capability and risk management standards of the country's primary securities exchange operator.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced an inquiry into the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) group on Monday, citing concerns shared by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) over the company's ability to maintain a stable, secure and resilient market infrastructure.
ASIC chair Joe Longo said in a statement that the inquiry follows "repeated and serious" failures at ASX and would provide an opportunity for the company to bolster market trust.
"ASX operates Australia's critical markets infrastructure. Investors and market participants deserve to have absolute confidence that ASX is operating soundly, securely and effectively," he said.
It comes after a failure of ASX's Clearing House Electronic Subregister System on Dec. 20, 2024, which was caused by a problem relating to the allocation of computer memory and prevented the completion of batch settlements for the cash equities market.
ASIC said at the time that the incident would likely result in ASX facing regulatory discipline.
The RBA, Australia's central bank, in March said that ASX was not complying with standards on operational risk and said it had "serious issues of concern" warranting immediate action.
ASX said in a statement that the inquiry would have its full cooperation. ■
