Disconnection issue in NTS to be resolved by Friday: PSX

October 29, 2021: Pakistan Stock Exchange has made the changeover to the new trading system on Monday, October 25, 2021. The new trading engine (NTS) was procured from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), China.

Some issues, material and non-material, have been highlighted by brokers since NTS has gone live. The issues pertain primarily to the Jade Trading Terminal (JTT) developed by a local vendor upon brokers’ demand.

Currently, PSX IT teams are working constantly on addressing the concerns and issues in JTT that connect to the NTS. RMGS issue was resolved on Monday. The slow feed issue has been mostly resolved and the changes were implemented before the market opened on Thursday. We expect the disconnection issue to be resolved on Friday.

In most markets, the front-end trading terminals are developed by brokers themselves as per their requirements. At present, the material issues being faced by brokers in JTT include slow feed, delays in updating of trade, and disconnection. The vendor and PSX team are working on the resolution of delays in updation of trade logs and expect to implement some changes on Friday and the rest before the market opens next Monday. PSX and the local vendor are working 24X7, with the full support of SZSE, to resolve the remaining issues in JTT and we expect the trading experience to continue to improve.

The system is deployed on state-of-the-art, robust, and advanced servers in-house to meet and exceed the trading needs of the Pakistan Stock Exchange and its ecosystem. The additional benefit of the NTS is system readiness for new products and additions. At the outset, it is important to note that the SZSE NTS is working exactly as per specifications. The processing speed of the system held true in the live environment. Trading activity continued and over 580 million shares are traded in the market today. As is common with any major technological transition, teething issues are experienced.

Prior to the deployment, eighteen (18) mock trading sessions were held for all brokers. All the concerns, enhancements, and issues highlighted by the Broker Committee were looked into by PSX and SECP, and as per the agreement, most were catered to prior to live deployment, while some were mutually agreed to be delivered post-go-live. The decision to go live on October 25th was taken by PSX after consultation and with mutual agreement of the Pakistan Stock Brokers Association, the Broker coordination committee, other leading brokerage houses, and SECP.

We are in constant touch with SECP and the brokers and are working in full coordination with them to resolve all issues. We appreciate the understanding and patience of brokers, investors, and SECP as we work through the issues and deliver NTS, which is critical for the growth of Pakistan’s capital markets.

Press Release