Golden Finance reported that according to the Financial Times, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) stated in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday that the board and management of the ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) had a "collective failure" in managing the upgrade of its blockchain-based platform. The upgrade project was originally promoted as a leading blockchain initiative, but was abandoned in November 2022 after seven years of development. The failed upgrade has triggered criticism of the ASX from the banking industry, the government and the Reserve Bank of Australia. ASIC cited a statement from the ASX in February 2022 in the lawsuit, which indicated that the blockchain upgrade was progressing smoothly and was scheduled to go live in April 2023. However, just six weeks later, the ASX said the upgrade might be delayed and appointed consulting firm Accenture to conduct a review. Accenture's review found that the project was only 63% complete. ASIC alleged that the February update was "misleading and deceptive" because the ASX had no reasonable basis to claim that the upgrade was going smoothly.
