Digital Asset blames ASX for CHESS debacle

AFR

James Eyers Senior Reporter

Dec 8, 2022 – 4.01pm

Digital Asset, the start-up that was building the new settlement system for the Australian equity market, has declared the ASX must shoulder the blame because it changed the scope of the project and never created a plan to fix core issues as it began to unravel.

The retort from the New York-based company comes after ASX chief executive Helen Lofthouse earlier this week told a parliamentary committee that “escalating delays” in software development at Digital Asset were one of the key reasons behind the ASX’s decision to pull the plug on the project.

This triggered a $250 million write-down, set the critical market infrastructure upgrade back at least five years, and triggered a loss of faith in ASX’s capability to manage technology, infuriating the Reserve Bank and corporate regulator.

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