Australian Securities Exchange, also known as ASX, is a full-service exchange for Australian markets. It offers services such as trading, clearing, settlement, market insights, connectivity, and depository and works with asset classes including equities, ETFs, and managed funds. ASX was founded in 1987 and has office locations throughout Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
ASX was originally formed under the name Australian Stock Exchange and was composed of existing independent state-based stock exchanges, some of which had been incorporated in the nineteenth century. They had been exchanges for each of the country's six states, and they were merged when the Australian Parliament passed legislation to do so. In 2006, the organization changed its name to Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) after the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and Sydney Futures Exchange.
ASX is a market operator for many asset classes in the country, such as equities, fixed income, commodities, and energy. It offers primary and secondary market services, including those for capital flows, trading and price discovery, central counterparty risk transfer, and securities settlement for the equities and fixed-income markets.
The organization has four major divisions:
- Listings (for listing a company on ASX)
- Markets (to find pricing information for the markets and conduct trading)
- Technology and Data (to connect office locations to ASX platforms)
- Securities and Payments (for participants so they can exchange cash for securities)
