ASX has released amendments to its CHESS Replacement Partnership Program, responding to industry feedback and in anticipation of future industry cooperation.
Originally announced in February 2023, the programme is designed to establish a framework whereby a financial contribution is provided towards stakeholders’ participation in the progress and completion of the CHESS replacement project.
A AUD 15 million participant rebate pool forms the first component of the programme.. Through this pool, clearing and settlement participants will be automatically paid an amount proportionate to the clearing and settlement fees they have paid to ASX between 1 January 2023 and 30 June 2023. This rebate will be paid in August 2023.
The development incentive pool makes up to AUD 55 million available to programme participants developing technology applications to connect and interact with the CHESS replacement solution, and which are accredited by ASX. Payments are expected to begin by 31 May 2023 and to continue in line with future programme milestones.
CHESS stakeholders provided feedback on the eligibility criteria for the latter pool in early May. As a result, ASX will now consider whether an entity is devising multiple CHESS replacement-compatible applications, and the proposed initial payment has risen from AUD10 to AUD 20 million.
Helen Lofthouse, ASX managing director and CEO, says: “When we were developing the Partnership Program, we wanted to recognise our customers that are clearing and settlement participants, but we were also cognisant of the wider ecosystem of stakeholders critical to the delivery of CHESS replacement, and this included software providers, share registries, and CS in-house development teams.
“The Development Incentive Pool is designed to address this broader set of stakeholders and the engagement we’ve undertaken has helped us refine the eligibility criteria which has also led to an increase in the total size of the initial payment.”
