ASX's Blockchain Upgrade Costing Members 'Millions,' Says Industry Body

The head of an Australian professional body for the stockbroking and investment advice industry says a blockchain upgrade to the country's major securities bourse is costing members millions.

• Judith Fox, CEO of the Stockbrokers and Financial Advisers Association said costs to the group's members were rising as a result of an upgrade to the Australian Securities Exchange's (ASX) aging CHESS system.
• “Many of our members are spending millions of dollars in order to be able to interact with the new distributed ledger technology that the ASX is implementing,” Fox said.
• Fox was speaking during the country's Senate economics legislation committee, the Australian Financial Review reported Sunday.
• An overhaul of the outdated 25-year-old Clearing House Electronic Subregister System, or CHESS, is being replaced by a blockchain-like iteration designed to speed up clearing and settlement.
• Fox argues members, who aren't only in the business of providing industry advice, are connected in some way to the ASX and "other global exchanges."
• “The investment required to operate in global markets is getting more and more intense,” said Fox as cited in the report.
• A spokesperson for the ASX, who was present at the committee, said upgrading would entail some costs and that those costs would need to be determined by customers.
• “Customers have choice about how they wish to interact with the new CHESS system," the spokesperson said.
• ASX's blockchain upgrade, a world first, is currently in the testing phase of its development cycle and is expected in 2022-23.

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