Embattled ASX to face shareholders as it seeks new boss
Australia’s embattled stock market operator is preparing to face tough questions from shareholders as it deals with regulatory problems, a battered share price and a search for a new boss.
The Australian Securities Exchange’s share price has fallen more than three per cent on Thursday ahead of the release of its interim financial results, which will be followed by a shareholders’ call.
Investors’ confidence was shaken on Tuesday night when managing director and CEO Helen Lofthouse announced she would resign in May.
The exchange operator has yet to find a replacement for Ms. Lofthouse.
The ASX’s share price has recently reached levels not seen since January 2017 and is trading at a more than 40 per cent discount to record highs set in 2021.
The collapse followed a series of embarrassing outages, outdated coding errors and a failure to replace an aging settlement system.
To make matters worse for the ASX, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in October cleared the way for US exchange operator CBOE to list companies on its platform.
The project to replace the CHESS payment system with blockchain technology was canceled after seven years in 2022 at a cost of $ 250 million.
ASX chairman David Clarke said Ms Lofthouse had led the company through a difficult period in its history.
“Helen has taken on the CEO role at an extraordinarily challenging time for the ASX,” Mr Clarke said.
“He took the difficult decision to halt and reset the previous CHESS project, leading to a significant increase in our technology investment, delivery and risk focus.”
ASX leadership, including Ms Lofthouse, will address shareholders for the first time after promising ASIC it would pay smaller dividends to help raise the $150 million capital charge needed to support transformation plans.
The corporate watchdog’s final report on the exchange operator will be published at the end of March.
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