Is another CHESS advisory group already coming off the wheels?
Last Thursday, in a room above the screens of red and green numbers flashing the daily performance of the stock market on to Bridge Street, Alan Cameron convened the inaugural meeting of a new advisory group.
Its task? To provide another layer of oversight to ASX’s attempt to upgrade the market’s post-trade systems; and in so doing, restore confidence in the exchange’s corporate governance and ability to manage projects.
This is a big ask, even for Cameron. A corporate lawyer who chaired the Australian Securities and Investments Commission between 1993 and 2000, he is known as a good listener, consensus builder and decisive decision-maker.
These qualities will be needed in spades as ASX continues to face regulatory opprobrium and an embarrassing loss of face among the investing community. This has been self-inflicted after it blew up its first attempt to rebuild the equity market settlement and clearing system known as CHESS 10 months ago, after eight years of trying.
Former ASIC chair Alan Cameron is overseeing the new CHESS project at ASX. Tamara Voninski
The new advisory group has been forced upon the ASX by the corporate regulator’s new chairman Joe Longo, who, during a series of parliamentary appearances, has been unrelenting in his critique of the market operator’s ineptitude, and adept at diverting attention from the possibility ASIC and the Reserve Bank were asleep at the wheel as the project ran off the rails.
But behind the scenes, concerns are already brewing that the new group will trigger further delays. Indeed, the ASX is only a month or two away from selecting the new vendor to build a redesigned CHESS – expected to be Nasdaq – and has been preparing to announce details before Christmas.
The prospect of
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