Australias ASX puts off go-live deadline for CHESS software replacement

May 11 (Reuters) - Australian bourse operator ASX Ltd (ASX.AX) said on Wednesday the April 2023 launch of its replacement software for Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS) will be delayed. The announcement comes amid delays in delivery of the application software that will replace CHESS, leaving ASX and CHESS users less time to complete their testing and other readiness activities before April 2023. The CHESS software enables ASXs registry to manage settlement of transactions, and the exchange has strived since 2017 to replace with blockchain technology in a bid to cut costs for customers. The bourse has also been battling several software glitches in the past, with the most recent outage being in November when an issue with its new equities trading platform halted trading for 20 minutes on the day it went live, forcing the countrys market regulator to impose additional licence conditions to reduce future risks and upgrades. "A new go-live date will be determined after further planning with ASXs technology partner and input from stakeholders," it said in a statement on Wednesday, assuring that the existing software system remained robust.