A loss of regulatory control over the four clearing and settlement systems operated by the Australian Securities Exchange may be the reason for the Foreign Investment Review Board's advice to reject the bid for ASX by SGX.
A series of articles in
The Australian and the Financial Review today focus on this aspect of FIRB's advice, announced on Tuesday by the two exchanges and confirmed by the Treasurer, Wayne Swan.
Treasury may publish a detailed rationale for the FIRB advice and Swan's decision to decline the SGX bid for ASX on national interest grounds as soon as this Sunday the AFR reported.
The ASX operate two clearing counterparties (ASX Clear and ASX Clear Futures) and two settlement entities (ASX Settlement and Austraclear) covering equities, derivatives and fixed income trading. All are subject to regulatory oversight and standards set by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
The AFR reported that both the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission expressed serious concerns about the ownership of clearing houses moving offshore.
The RBA's annual assessment of these clearing and settlement facilities, published in October 2010, cites a list of operational, risk and governance improvements that the ASX is or has undertaken, some as a result of prodding of the exchange and with reference to international standards.
The assessment also notes that in spite of the rise in volume of transactions on financial markets, "none of the [clearing and settlement] facilities experienced capacity or other issues relevant to the stability of market infrastructure" in 2009/2010.
The Treasurer will refer the issues arising from FIRB's advice to the Council of Financial Regulators and will seek advice on changes to legislation that may foster any future merger proposals involving the ASX in the future, the AFR reported.