Australia's Reserve Bank said on September 23 that the four clearing and settlement facilities of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) met or broadly met requirements on several financial stability standards, but governance, integrated risk management, and operational risk were each rated only "partially compliant." According to Sina Finance, the central bank said ASX still fell short of regulatory expectations in several important areas.

The RBA said ASX strengthened staffing and contingency arrangements for the CHESS system and completed the first phase of the CHESS replacement project during the assessment period. As a result, the operational risk ratings for ASX Clear and ASX Settlement were raised from "non-compliant" to "partially compliant."

The central bank stressed that the upgrade reflected specific CHESS-related improvements and should not be taken as evidence that ASX's overall operational risk management had improved. It said the ability of the facilities to maintain critical services during prolonged disruptions still needs further strengthening.

ASX has launched a transformation plan to address long-standing issues in governance, capability, corporate culture, and risk management. According to Sina Finance, the RBA said ASX recently took steps to increase the independence of the boards of its clearing and settlement facilities, but it is still too early to judge whether those changes will improve actual decision-making. The central bank also said shortcomings remain in the implementation and control of risk models and data.

The assessment did not issue any new remediation recommendations. The RBA said it will focus on monitoring whether the existing transformation plan delivers the expected results while ensuring the overhaul does not affect the safe and reliable operation of key market infrastructure. ASX Chief Executive Anthony Attia said the company acknowledges there is still work to do and will continue to advance technology and transformation measures.