Australia’s market regulator has sued the country’s stock exchange, alleging it made “misleading and deceptive” statements about the progress of its botched clearing and settlement system upgrade.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which regulates companies in Australia, said in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday that there had been a “collective failure” by ASX’s board and management to manage an upgrade to its blockchain-based platform.
But the upgrade, which was originally billed as a leading blockchain initiative, was abandoned in November 2022 after seven years of development. The aborted upgrade triggered criticism of ASX from the banking industry, government and Australia’s central bank.