The Dhaka Stock Exchange has moved to scrap its faulty online-based trading software MSA Plus and install a new one following a Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission’s directive, DSE officials said.
To this end the bourse last week arranged a programme where the NASDAQ Stock Exchange, a US bourse, gave a demonstration on an upgraded trading technology.‘The DSE has taken the move following a BSEC directive about scrapping the MSA Plus. The regulator is not satisfied with the performance of the software as it failed to execute transactions on a number of occasions,’ a DSE official told New Age on Sunday.
He said the BSEC had directed the bourse to replace the MSA Plus with a new software.
But, replacement of the software will require upgradation of the entire trading system, he said.
‘NASDAQ gave a demonstration on an updated technology-based trading system last week,’ the DSE official said adding that the US bourse would conduct a need assessment study of the DSE for next ten years.
He said the DSE board had already directed its management to negotiate with the NASDAQ for the purpose.
‘We want to finish the job as soon as possible, but now it depends on the NASDAQ when the DSE will be able to complete the process,’ he said.
The DSE board in February this year formed a five-member committee headed by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology professor M Kaykobad to find out the reasons of the technical glitches of the MSA Plus.
The committee submitted its report in June stating that the MSA Plus was faulty and a number of errors were made when the software was installed.
Asked about the report, DSE president Ahasanul Islam said the bourse’s management was considering the matter as per the suggestions made by the committee.
A DSE board director, however, said that the bourse’s board was yet to take any initiative in line with the committee’s suggestions.
‘Even the report was not submitted to the BSEC when the regulator conducted an investigation into the DSE trading system,’ he said.
Despite several attempts to remove problems, the software still fails to execute transactions, he said.
Xchanging, a UK-based software vendor, provided the software at a cost of around $6 lakh.
DSE officials said that the bourse did not make full payment to the vendor as the MSA Plus software did not work properly.
The DSE on June 10 last year introduced the online-based trading system MSA Plus.
The trading software, however, failed to cheer the investors as its operational flaws delayed trading for one hour on two separate occasions when new companies made their debut on the bourse late last year.
The software also failed to execute buy and sell orders on several occasions.
Following the incidents, the BSEC launched an investigation and found that the glitches resulted from negligence by the software vendor as well as the DSE.
-With New Age input
