ASX Limited (ASXFY.PK,ASXFF.PK,ASX.AX) Monday announced that it has settled proceedings brought by Australian Securities and Investments Commission or ASIC in relation to statements made in 2022 on the status relating to CHESS replacement project, after admitting misleading conduct.
As part of the settlement, ASX will pay a penalty of A$20.5 million and will contribute A$3 million to ASIC's legal costs, subject to the approval of the Federal Court of Australia.
With the development, the parties will no longer be proceeding to trial.
ASIC's civil proceedings against ASX were commenced in August 2024 alleging three statements that were made in 2022 regarding the previous CHESS project were misleading and contravened certain provisions of the ASIC Act
Under the agreement with ASIC, ASX admits that it contravened these provisions of the ASIC Act when it made the "progressing well" representation.
ASX noted that ASIC is no longer pursuing allegations of misleading statement in relation to representations the Project was "tracking to the Published Plan" and "Tracking to Go-Live in April 2023".
ASX Chair David Clarke said, "The market must have confidence in what ASX says about its operations as these statements can be relied upon to make decisions. When we stopped the CHESS project in November 2022 to reassess our whole approach, that tested market confidence in ASX and called into question the nature of statements previously made. As the market operator and a steward of critical market infrastructure, our words matter. I am sorry ASX fell short."
Clarke added that the CHESS project is now on firmer footing, and its decision to settle the matter reflects the Board's aim to focus ASX on building for the future while maintaining the work still required to build confidence and deliver for the market.
At a hearing on Monday, Justice Markovic listed the matter for a half-day hearing on final orders and penalty on July 1.
On the Australian Stock Exchange, ASX shares were trading at A$50.25, up 2.13%.
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