RBA says ASX clearing facilities still fall short in key areas despite progress

Sept 23 (Reuters) - Australia's central bank said on Wednesday that ASX's ASX.AX clearing and settlement facilities still failed to meet its expectations in "several important areas", including governance and risk management, even as the exchange operator made progress during the year.

In its 2026 assessment of the ASX clearing and settlement (CS) facilities, the RBA said one or more facilities only "partly observed" requirements relating to governance, comprehensive risk management, credit risk and operational risk.

The RBA said ASX had established a Transformation Portfolio during the year to address deficiencies in governance, capability, culture and risk management, adding that the central bank had also set clear expectations over the target outcomes in these areas.

"ASX is undergoing a period of substantial organisational change in response to several long-running issues," said RBA Assistant Governor (Financial System) Brad Jones.

"This assessment highlights that, despite progress during the year, ASX is still not meeting the RBA’s expectations in several important areas."

ASX has faced heightened regulatory scrutiny since abandoning its blockchain-based CHESS replacement project in 2022, with regulators subsequently demanding improvements in governance, technology resilience, and risk controls following a series of operational disruptions.

The firm said it had acknowledged the release of the RBA's assessment.