ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX) has been heavily criticised for problems with its new website, which went live on Monday.
After testing and trial runs, the system went fully public on Monday. But it was plagued with issues on day one – including not being able to show company announcements in the midst of the annual general meetings season.
"ASX announcements are currently not displaying on the ASX website," stated ASX Ltd's Twitter account.
"All company announcements are available to view via brokers and news agencies."
Can't believe that this Market Operator can NOT get anything right….this is an enormous FAIL for #ASX …
siciliavin (@siciliavin) 12 October 2020
Regulators seriously need to break-down this monopolist…#ASX lack innovation in the TECH space.!!
Previously, when I was logged in, I tried opening various pages and was unable to with a message that 'connection was reset'. Now I've been logged out and when I try login in I get the same message. The previous website was so well designed; this one is a step backwards.
— Craig Boston (@cnboston) 11 October 2020
Even the website's intentional designs were panned, with many social media users criticising putting previously accessible information behind a user login wall.
An ASX spokesperson responded to the criticism today, saying:
ASX has since updated the website to normal operation and will continue to actively monitor the performance and availability, and apologises for the inconvenience.
ASX would like to reassure users of the website that information on the website will continue to be freely available and has significantly reduced the amount of data collected from users.
ASX has a monopoly, remember?
Some users said the failures reminded investors that the company runs a monopoly.
In the UK, publicly listed companies are allowed to choose from a few different providers to meet their mandatory disclosure obligations. These include news agencies.
In Australia, all ASX companies must go through ASX Ltd to post their announcements.
OpenMarkets chief executive Ivan Tchourilov told the Australian Financial Review that the ASX stranglehold in Australia, like any monopoly, was unhealthy.
"The industry is concerned that ASX has too much power to dictate play and there isn't much of an opportunity for competitors to create a diverse environment that will ultimately benefit customers," he said.
