With the ASX in flux amid its search for a new CEO, questions are emerging about the future direction of the exchange and the kind of market landscape and vision it should pursue.
After Helen Lofthouse announced she would step down following a long tenure marked by operational issues and regulatory scrutiny, Darren Yip was appointed interim CEO last week as the ASX continues its search for a permanent chief executive.
The announcement followed ASIC’s final report in early April from a nine-month inquiry into the exchange, which identified issues including compromised critical market infrastructure and a lack of “aspiration” to act as its proper steward. April also saw the long-awaited CHESS 1 release.
Against this backdrop, speaking to Investor Daily, VanEck deputy head of investments & capital markets Jamie Hannah said the new CEO must bring a “strong vision” for the ASX’s future and “relentlessly pursue” delivery of outcomes.
Asked what funds are looking for from exchanges more broadly, Hannah offered several key points of advice.
“Firstly we need a reliable, world class exchange infrastructure that will allow enhancements as technology develops.”
Reliability has come into sharp focus for fund managers and investors using the ASX, particularly after several missteps, including a December announcements outage that affected 80 companies. It followed the high-profile CHESS batch settlement failure on 20 December 2024, which triggered a broader wave of regulatory and compliance scrutiny.
Hannah noted that the ASX effectively holds a monopoly in clearing and settlement through its licensed infrastructure, which is “supported by the regulatory framework and its designation as systemically important financial market infrastructure.”
Though he acknowledged that centralising settlement in one location can make transactions easier to process, he said it must still be underpinned by leading-edge technology and strong ease of use.
Moreover, he said funds are seeking “clear and consistent policy that issuers and companies can adhere to” across the broader Australian exchange landscape.
On the search for the next ASX CEO, Ten Cap founder Jun Bei Liu suggested the focus should be on finding someone who is “friendly with regulators” and has a strong compliance background.
“It’s still in a place where regulators are watching them very, very closely, and they need to address that corporate culture to really just work with a regulator and then move forward. You put your past behind, you move forward, and then you do need to invest,” Liu told this publication.
Liu has previously said the ASX urgently needs to undertake a multi-year transformation, adding now that the immediate priority, after working with the regulator, should be investment and keeping pace with technological advancements.
She projected that the coming 12 months will be another transitional period for the exchange, with the expectation that investment and the willingness to back a long-term vision for technological infrastructure will begin to pay off.
On competition in the exchange landscape, she added that one reason the ASX has struggled is likely the lack of competition, meaning that spending has not always been disciplined or effective.
However, she said that investment should also be prioritised because investment technology is evolving so quickly that it’s “just a matter of time before competition comes in.”
“They need to stay ahead of it, whether it’s competition from another player or others, or maybe it’s AI-related things that are coming through…I think every business needs to be looking at how you can use some of those tools, because if you don’t, your competitors will be.”
With the regulator already encouraging greater competition, particularly in the listings market, she said the ASX needs to stay ahead of the curve, giving the exchange a one-year window to address its challenges.
Listing market competition
In addition to technological improvements, Hannah also said funds want a stronger emphasis on expanding Australia’s public markets and attracting higher-quality companies to list locally.
While IPO activity is expected to pick up later in 2026 after a subdued few years, the ongoing lack of listings has remained a persistent theme in the market.
It also comes after ASIC approved Cboe Australia to list new companies in October of last year, introducing long-awaited competition to the ASX-dominated listings market. However, that space has also been in flux since the company announced it was leaving Australia. It has since been acquired by Canadian operator TMX Group.
Also speaking to Investor Daily, ETF Shares CEO Cliff Man added that Australia could strengthen its position as a global financial hub by adopting a more US-style regulatory environment, potentially making the local market more attractive for foreign company listings.
“I’m originally from Hong Kong, and looking at the IPO numbers there…they do have more flexible listing rules as compared to Australia, and you will see that it does attract foreign enterprises to list in your country because they can cater to what the business needs,” Man said.
He pointed to the success of the US tech-focused NASDAQ, which offers an alternative listing pathway to other American exchanges.
With Australia’s comparatively strict listing rules, he argued that a more diverse exchange landscape with different listing frameworks could encourage more local companies to list domestically. Man cited Sydney-founded Atlassian’s 2015 decision to list on the NASDAQ rather than the ASX as a cautionary example.
While Hannah acknowledged that competition already exists on the exchange side through Cboe Australia, he added that the relatively small size of the Australian market also makes it challenging to sustain greater competition.
