(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s markets regulator plans to seek penalties after it sued ASX Ltd. for misleading statements relating to years of concerns over the progress and delays of a technology project.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission Deputy Chair Sarah Court said the case against ASX is in its “early stages” and while it “will be seeking penalties down the track,” it is now up to the Federal Court to decide on the allegations made in the civil case.
“This is a really unprecedented action by ASIC,” she said in a Bloomberg TV interview in Melbourne.
The regulator has alleged ASX statements in 2022 about the Clearing House Electronic Subregister System replacement, known as Chess, misled investors. The exchange said the project was “progressing well,” when in fact it was not, ASIC has said.
ASX is reviewing and considering the allegations, CEO Helen Lofthouse has said. She took the helm in August 2022, succeeding Dominic Stevens.
“Technological risk and compliance failures for listed companies are becoming increasingly significant,” Court said. “If you are making statements about the progress of technological developments and implementation, you’ve got to make sure those statements are right and correct at the time that they’re made.”
ASIC Chair Joe Longo earlier said at a press conference in Melbourne that this was “a collective failure of the board and the executive team of the time at ASX.” He added that he hadn’t ruled out the possibility of imposing further license conditions on ASX in the future.
--With assistance from Andy Clarke, Matthew Burgess and Harry Brumpton.
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