A contracting firm involved in a $200 million project with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has launched legal proceedings. The firm alleges that attempts to reveal internal project mismanagement were met with retaliation. It claims its founder was terminated after disclosing risks that could impact national financial stability, potentially breaching regulatory requirements. The case has increased scrutiny on ASX's operational standards and openness with regulators.
The dispute centres on a whistleblower complaint lodged by a company working on the ASX’s critical derivatives-clearing project, ClearStar. The contractor joined in mid-2024 to assist a project already under review from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). These regulators had previously raised serious concerns, including shortcomings in risk management and project execution.
Issues with ASX's system upgrade processes have persisted for years. The exchange has experienced repeated problems including a high-profile trading system outage in 2020 and a failed attempt to replace its CHESS system, which led to legal action by ASIC. Although ASX claimed in 2023 that the CHESS project was progressing, ASIC later accused the exchange of misleading investors. In March 2025, both ASIC and the RBA downgraded ASX's operational compliance due to ongoing risks that had not been addressed.
According to the whistleblower's legal claim, he identified significant issues such as deceptive project tracking methods and the concealment of critical delays through software manipulation. These actions allegedly compromised the transparency of ASX's transformation initiative. He claims his dismissal followed these disclosures, even though 32 months remained on a contract worth close to $1 million. He argues ASX falsely linked his termination to behavioural issues in an effort to mask its exposure to regulatory breaches.
The case follows earlier legal claims from another former executive regarding mismanagement and a toxic workplace culture at ASX. Although the exchange has not yet formally responded to the latest allegations, it has stated that it takes whistleblower concerns seriously and adheres to internal reporting procedures.
There is growing concern about whether ASX's internal systems are robust enough to manage financial market stability during ongoing upgrades and increasing regulatory demands. If the whistleblower's claims are upheld, the findings could influence how oversight is conducted and affect trust in ASX’s ability to maintain critical financial infrastructure.
