With a major 'glitch' causing nearly four-hour trading halt at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) last night, regulator Sebi and stock exchanges here have initiated an urgent review of the overall risks management and disaster recovery systems of the Indian markets.
Top officials said the systems here are already being upgraded constantly to tackle any unforeseen <g data-gr-id="27">circumstances</g> but it was decided to take a stock of the situation last night itself when first reports began coming in about the NYSE case. They expressed satisfaction about the systems after this 'urgent review' and said nothing was found amiss.
The initial investigations in the US have shown that the 'technical glitch' at NYSE was caused by some 'internal software upgrade' and the regulators and other agencies have so far ruled out any external reasons such as cyber attacks.
While there have been several cases of such 'technical glitches' hitting the stock exchanges abroad, the Indian markets have been relatively better off on this front. Sebi has been asking the stock exchanges and other market entities to take necessary steps from time to time to assess the robustness of their systems to avoid any software-related or other technical disruptions.
The regulator has also been conducting <g data-gr-id="29">regular</g> audit of the software systems in use to avoid any technical glitches. Incidentally, Sebi earlier this week issued a new set of guidelines for the stock exchanges and other market infrastructure institutions to safeguard their systems, networks and databases from cyber attacks.
Asking all exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories to implement necessary changes within six months, Sebi said these Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs) need to have a robust cyber security framework to provide essential facilities and perform systemically critical functions of trading, clearing and settlement in <g data-gr-id="19">securities</g> market.
BSE plans to delist 1,000 stocks that are suspended
In a major clean-up exercise, top exchange BSE has proposed delisting more than 1,000 companies from its platform as trading in their shares have remained suspended for more than seven years for various penal reasons.
A proposal in this regard has been set by Asia’s oldest bourse, which today completed its 140 years of operations, to the capital markets regulator Sebi wherein BSE has stated that the shares of these companies can be suspended after giving their shareholders sufficient opportunity to exit.