ASX to kick off recruitment drive to replace chief risk officer Hamish Treleaven

With regulatory battles looming, the market operator will have to kick off a recruitment drive to replace its head of risk Hamish Treleaven, who is retiring.

The ASX must now replace its head of risk amid looming regulatory battles. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

An architect of the Australian Securities Exchange’s regulatory response, Hamish Treleaven, has announced his intention to retire from the market operator.

The ASX told investors on Monday that Mr Treleaven, its chief risk officer would be leaving, although no firm date has been set for his departure.

The new kicks off a recruitment drive as the ASX shapes up to fight a bruising court battle over its botched CHESS replacement scheme, as well as responding to a new regulatory regime signed off by parliament last week.

ASX chief executive Helen Lofthouse said Mr Treleaven had “played a critical role in building out ASX’s risk management capability and driving the maturity of our frameworks, systems and processes”.

“Over more than seven years he has been an integral part of ASX, supporting the group in navigating a period of significant change and progress, including continued uplift in risk management practices to meet evolving global standards,” she said.

The ASX said Mr Treleaven, who has run the ASX’s risk function since March 2017, had been responsible for designing and implementing the market operator’s risk management frameworks. He oversaw the ASX’s moves to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused record trading on the exchange.

ASX's chief risk officer Hamish Treleaven has announced he will retire.

Mr Treleaven’s impending departure comes amid a period of turnover among the ASX’s senior ranks, with chair Damian Roche announcing he would also exit.

The ASX told investors it was delaying its original go-live on its CHESS replacement scheme on March 25, 2020, noting it was making the move in response to Covid-19.

Trades on the ASX surged in the early days of Covid-19, topping 7.2 million a day at its March peak.

This came as the ASX struggled to get its CHESS replacement scheme, built around blockchain technology, to handle trades in excess of twice the largest market event.

The ASX is now being sued by ASIC, with the market operator facing court action over its statements to investors assuring them of the progress of its CHESS replacement scheme.

ASX said it would launch an internal and external recruitment drive to replace Mr Treleaven.

But he will also continue to “support” the ASX over the coming months as the market operator seeks to transition his responsibilities.

Mr Treleaven was previously CBA portfolio and market risk management executive general manager, working at the bank for almost 12 years

This saw Mr Treleaven responsible for providing oversight of CBA’s global markets and group treasury businesses.

His replacement comes as the ASX is faced with responding to new laws governing financial market infrastructure.

The Senate passed the laws last week, handing ASIC and the Reserve Bank of Australia more powers to command the ASX.

This includes powers to force the ASX to provide “competitive” pricing as well as handing the RBA, which co-regulates the ASX alongside ASIC, the power to declare an emergency and take control of the market operator.

Both the ASX and the RBA were informed about the announcement of Mr Treleaven’s departure prior to it being revealed to investors on Monday.

The ASX is also again seeking to replace the clearing and settlement elements of its CHESS system after inking a contract with Tata Consultancy Services, a division of Indian conglomerate Tata.