The Singapore Exchange reported a three hour halt in its derivatives trading system today due to a technical glitch. Securities trade and negotiated large trade however, were not affected.

SGX's first announcement at 10.39 am mentioned that 'members are unable to access the derivatives trading system'. It also mentioned that the 'SGX is currently investigating the cause and the market will be informed when normal derivatives trading resumes.' Its second announcement at 11.43 am mentioned that its derivatives trade system was up again, but still no mention of what happened. It didn't promise us that it would tell us what happened, but I think they should. It's SGX's responsibility to constantly update the market about what happened in the same way it expects listed companies to do so.

My reasons:

First, SGX is the only place for Singapore to trade derivatives. We don't have any other derivatives trading platforms in Singapore.

Second, being the only platform, SGX cannot afford to make mistakes as hundreds and thousands of dollars could be lost. It needs to be reliable and open. If the SGX isn't stable or becomes error prone, people would be very afraid to trade, hence trading volume and values could go downhill.

SGX's credibility would be tarnished. Especially with the increasing competition from other markets, we cannot afford such set backs.

Third, SGX should at least inform the public as soon as they can about the source of the problem. This will reduce the chances of concern amongst traders and companies.

Yes, SGX did keep us informed about when trade resumed, but I feel that the results of the investigation should be published as soon as possible.

We cannot afford to have mistakes or technical glitches in this fast paced economy. They're just too costly.

Nurwidya Abdul

This statement was filed after we published our blog:

SGX STATEMENT ON DERIVATIVES TRADING (Update at 7.00 pm)
Singapore Exchange Ltd ("SGX") has identified non-routine log-in activities of some member firms this morning that inadvertently prevented access to the derivatives trading system.
SGX and OMX, our service provider, have addressed the issue and normal derivatives trading resumed at 11.30am today.
“We regret this morning’s incident. Member firms and customers have been kept abreast of the situation during the recovery. We thank them for their understanding and working closely with us. SGX remains committed to maintaining the highest level of confidence in our marketplace,” said Mr Gan Seow Ann, Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Markets at SGX.