ASX Due Diligence

ASX understands conducting third party due diligence plays an important role in identifying any potential risks in connection with acquiring certain products and services. ASX is committed to ensuring our customers feel confident that we have the appropriate regulatory compliance, operational and security measures in place to appropriately manage relevant risks. The ASX Group (ASX) which includes ASX Limited and its related entities, provides critical market infrastructure to Australia’s and New Zealand’s financial markets. As an integrated exchange, ASX provides a full suite of services, including listings, trading, clearing, settlement, technical and information services, and other post-trade services. It operates markets for a wide range of asset classes including equities, fixed income, commodities and energy.

ASX’s business is conducted through a number of highly regulated legal entities. Within Australia, ASX holds market operator licences and clearing and settlement licences to undertake its activities and is subject to regulatory oversight by ASIC and the RBA.

Many of our customers are APRA-regulated entities subject to the requirements of CPS230 (Operational Risk Management) to effectively manage the risks associated with their service providers. ASX, as the operator of critical market infrastructure in Australia, is highly regulated in its provision of licensed services. ASX must have adequate business continuity arrangements in place, including, but not limited to:

• comprehensive crisis management and business continuity plans
• adequate backup infrastructure, resources and appropriate staffing arrangements
• appropriate redundancy and data replication in place for key systems
• periodic testing of continuity arrangements involving participants and other industry stakeholders. 

For more information, refer to the ASIC Market Integrity Rules (specifically Chapter 8A: Market operators - Critical Business Services, Information Security and Business Continuity Plans) and the RBA’s Financial Stability Standards (specifically Central Counterparties Standard 16 and Securities Settlement Facilities Standard 14).

For these reasons, and due to the sensitivity of the information ASX maintains about its business continuity frameworks and processes, ASX is unable to complete customer questionnaires or respond to specific CPS230-related queries in respect of its licensed services. There are, however, copies of reviews and audits relating to the key trading, clearing and settlement services we supply to Australia’s financial markets that are publicly available either through our regulators’ or our websites. In light of this, we have implemented an enterprise-wide due diligence framework that provides access to the relevant resources to enable streamlined information sourcing.