The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has announced its intention to replace CHESS using distributed ledger technology (DLT) developed by its technology partner Digital Asset (DA). CHESS (Clearing House Electronic Subregister System) is the system used by ASX to record shareholdings and manage the clearing and settlement of equity transactions in Australia.
It was world-leading when introduced in the 1990s, providing name-on-register functionality, electronic communications and removing paper share certificates. It continues to be a robust and reliable system.
Dominic Stevens, ASX Managing Director and CEO, said the ASX is now taking the opportunity to replace CHESS with a next generation post-trade platform using contemporary technology.
“Today’s decision follows the successful build of enterprise-grade DLT software for core equity clearing and settlement functions, and the completion of extensive suitability testing by ASX and DA over the past two years,” Mr Stevens said.
“The testing confirms ASX’s confidence in the functional, capacity, security and resilience capabilities of DA’s application of DLT to meet the needs of Australia’s financial marketplace and maintain the highest regulatory and operational standards. The testing included two independent third party security reviews of DA’s technology.”
The testing was conducted in parallel with a stakeholder consultation program, which included briefing of regulators, to enable ASX to develop a comprehensive understanding of what the market wants in replacing CHESS.
Mr Stevens said the ASX will now work with stakeholders on finalising the scope of Day 1 functionality for the new system, drawing on its extensive consultation that will continue in 2018. Day 1 functionality and the proposed timing for transition are expected to be released for market feedback at the end of March 2018.
The new system will be operated by ASX on a secure private network where participants are known, ‘permissioned’ to have access, and must comply with ongoing and enforceable obligations.
“The system will be designed without access barriers to non-affiliated market operators and clearing and settlement facilities. It will also give ASX’s customers choice as to how they use ASX’s post-trade services.
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Customers will be able to connect in a similar way they do today, with the addition of using contemporary global ISO 20022 messaging, or they may interact directly with the distributed ledger. The transition period to the new system will be determined in consultation with stakeholders.
“ASX has been carefully examining distributed ledger technology for almost two-and-a-half years, including the last two years with Digital Asset, in order to understand its potential application. Having completed this work, we believe that using DLT to replace CHESS will enable our customers to develop new services and reduce their costs, and it will put Australia at the forefront of innovation in financial markets,” Mr Stevens said.
