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Securities houses under pressure of soaring online trading

(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-01-29 15:32

The two stock exchanges in the Chinese mainland have issued emergency notices ordering brokerages to upgrade online trading systems in a bid to prevent recent technical glitches from further stoking investor unrest, industry sources said.

Complaints have recently been filed to mainland brokers over investors' difficulties in trading stocks, exposing the weakness of systems designed for lower volumes during a four-year bear market.

An online platform broke down on January 15 at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co. Investors reacted by swamping the broker's outlets. Last Monday, a Shanghai outlet of Haitong Securities Co halted trading for the morning session due to server problems.

"A sudden surge in trading demand made it hard for investors to access the online platform," said a spokeswoman at Shenyin & Wanguo. "We updated the system the next day and the problem has been fixed."

Haitong Securities also said they managed to fix the mess, with a broader scheme to strengthen most of its servers.

Other brokers such as Orient Securities Co are taking pre-emptive measures to avoid their systems from catching on fire.

"As stock trading soars, brokers must work to weed out market risks and protect investor interests," said a January 17 notice issued by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange that was obtained by Shanghai Daily. "Checks should be conducted to ensure the stability and safety of trading systems."

A similar notice has been distributed by the Shanghai Stock Exchange to its member brokerages. It urges them to beef up checks and make sure their systems are in good condition, the sources said.

"There are regulatory jitters that technical problems may dent investor sentiment, cause social unrest and reverse a long-awaited bull market," said a source close to the stock watchdog. "So authorities ordered swift action to be taken now to curb the negative effects."

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