After damning FMA report, NZX recruits Nasdaq tech whizz

Nasdaq veteran Peter Jessup - who worked at the NZX early in his career - is returning to the local exchange as an independent member of its new technology sub-committee. Photo / Supplied

NZX has beefed up its new technology sub-committee with the appointment of computer expert Peter Jessup as an independent member.

The move is one of a series of steps being taken by the local exchange as it follows the recommendations of a scathing Financial Markets Authority report issued after the cyber attacks it suffered in August and September, plus technical issues earlier in the year.

But was a case of poor timing as the exchange's public website, nzx.com, ran into technical problems for the second time this week shortly after news of Jessup's appointment - and on the same day that NZX is holding its annual meeting.

Early afternoon, a spokesman said NZX was experiencing a delay in the display of securities pricing information and that it was working to fix it.

NZX pricing information was unaffected on other data sources, such as via broking firms and online trading platforms.

On Tuesday, delivery of share prices on the NZX's public website nzx.com was delayed by about an hour but the exchange said the issue was not related to the return to NZ standard time from daylight saving time. Again, the technical problems did not obstruct normal trading. Last September, when New Zealand entered daylight saving, prices were delayed when the system had not been adjusted for the changeover.

The Sydney-based Jessup, billed as a "global expert in stock exchange computer systems", spent 23 years at Nasdaq, overseeing the development of several products including the X stream matching platform - licensed by other exchanges including NZX.

Son for the return home

Jessup led a team of 250 as head of Nasdaq's Global Technology Services group before leaving the US exchange three years ago to start his own consultancy.

The Onslow College old-boy spent part of his early career at NZX, where he was a software engineer from 1986 to 1993 before moving on to roles in Australia then the US.

The technology committee, which also includes two NZX directors (John McMahon and Richard Bodman) was established last November in line with a number of recommendations made by the FMA.

The market watchdog, which found a pattern of under-resourcing and under-investment, also said the NZX's next steps needed to include hiring a relationships manager, a chief risk officer, a head of network architecture and a head of IT security.

A spokesman for the NZX could not immediately update on recruitment efforts for those roles, but did note that the exchange had hired Robert Douglas as its new chief information officer.

Douglas, a veteran of eftpos processor Verifone, started at the NZX on February 1.

He replaced David Godfrey, who quit as the exchange's CIO on September 29 last year. The exchange said his departure was not related to its recent tech and security problems.