The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) recently announced it had cancelled plans to allow clearing and settlements systems to use the blockchain.
ASX said in a Thursday statement it had halted activities for its Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS) replacement project after global IT consultancy Accenture conducted an independent review.
The review revealed “significant challenges with the solution design and its ability to meet ASX’s requirements.”
Accenture’s 47-page report concluded that such business workflows were “not tailored for a distributed environment,” and that the projects completion was too complex and uncertain.
It added: “Current activities on the project have been paused while ASX revisits the solution design.”
ASX had attempted to complete a distributed ledger technology (DLT) as the successor to its ageing, 25-year-old CHESS system, which managed transaction settlements and recorded shareholdings.
It aimed to launch in 2020, but was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and calls for further testing.
Responses to ASX SNAFU
The Exchange’s chairman, Damian Roche responded, stating there were “significant technology, governance, and delivery challenges” to address.
Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philop Lowe slammed the decision as “very disappointing.”
Australian Securities Investment Commission (ASIC) chairman Joe Longo added the ASX had “failed to demonstrate appropriate control of the program to date,” which had “undermined legitimate expectations that the ASX can deliver a world-class, contemporary financial market infrastructure.”
According to figures, the ASX cost taxpayers from $164.6 million to $171.3 million.
