PSX trading remains suspended for 2.5 hours due to technical issues

Trading at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was temporarily suspended on Wednesday for more than two hours due to a "technical issue", the bourse announced. The recently launched trading system, JADE Trading Terminal (JTT), at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is facing backlash from market participants as they are suffering from technical issues while consummating transactions.

The PSX suspended trading for 2 hours i.e. from 12:00pm to 2:00pm as there are technical issues being identified in the JTT. In order to conduct a detailed review of the issues and to protect the interest of the investors, the PSX decided to suspend trading session for 2 hours; however, this suspension lasted for two-and-a-half-hour.

The new trading system was installed on Monday last in order to integrate local bourse with regional and international stock markets while ensuring improved security features for better safeguarding investors’ data. The new system was supposed to be capable enough to provide a user-friendly smooth trading experience along with a strong surveillance system to prevent data leakages and notify theft attempts.

However, the user experience of NTS presents a completely different story. Since its launch, so many complaints have been received by numerous members who are facing difficulties in consummating transactions.

The Stock Brokers Association, in its letter to the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan said that investors all over the world use various trading platforms, including but not limited to, KATS, KITS, online, and internet-based trading which connect them directly with the trading engine, provided by the exchange. This essentially means that any financial loss, incurred by the investors at large due to usage of NTS will not be the responsibility of the securities brokers/market participants, the letter said.

The letter also underlined that members of the Stock Broker Association voluntarily provided all the required assistance to help the exchange authorities to make this new system efficient, effective, and smooth to implement as a goodwill gesture. In this process, 18 mock sessions were conducted and errors, flaws & imperfections could not be addressed/removed in their entirety. “This has compelled us to state that the Exchange is being damaged by unprofessional decision-making,” said the letter.

“NTS went live without fixing errors thereby investors around the globe had to suffer and public money has been put at stake. Volumes have shrunk drastically due to hasty decisions based on the impractical system causing revenue loss not only to the Exchange, our members but also to the public at large. We fail to understand the logic behind its abrupt implementation during the rollover week,” it added.

It also highlighted that this NTS is missing important decision-making features which were available in the previous system KATS.