The chair of the Australian Stock Exchange has issued a rare public apology over the botched rollout of a multi-million dollar project.
The ASX has spent the last seven years working to replace its registry, settlement and clearing system with blockchain technology.
The aim was to cut costs for its customers.
But the exchange has pumped the brakes on the troubled project to reassess the best path forward.
ASX chairman Damian Roche apologised for the ongoing delays and disruptions.
"Put simply this is not where we want to be," Mr Roche told a parliamentary committee on Monday.
"Despite our best efforts, we haven't gotten enough right to warrant continuing along the same path."
He said the board of directors and executive management would take full responsibility for the botched technology upgrade.
Roughly $250 million has already been spent on the project.
The market operator decided to put the project on hiatus after an independent report unearthed several issues and found the project was only 63 per cent complete.
ASX chief executive officer Helen Lofthouse said the team had taken immediate action to get the project back on track, including implementing stronger project governance and vendor management and appointing a new project director.
Ms Lofthouse also reiterated the complexity and scale of the project.
"As projects grow in size, they do grow in difficulty and complexity," she told the committee.
Work on the project began in 2015.
