'Just feels like a money grab': Iress facing broker revolt over price hikes
The essential service provider at the heart of the Australian sharemarket blindsided brokers, and even the ASX itself, with its latest cost-saving move.
Outraged stockbroker customers of Iress are set to imminently meet to discuss their options in the wake of an "eleventh hour" decision by the technology provider to push through price increases that blindsided them and even the ASX itself.
Iress in late January informed its stockbroker and intermediary clients that they would need to foot the bill for a technology upgrade allowing all ASX listings to trade immediately at market open, as opposed to the earlier system where stocks progressively opened for trade in alphabetical order.
The move to charge for the upgrade put Iress at odds with other technology providers — including FlexTrade, Fidessa and Triton — which have absorbed the costs of the upgrade themselves.
Several sources familiar with the matter said the $1.7 billion, ASX-listed company raised no cost concerns during an exchange-led consultation with vendors, trading participants, or even with the bourse itself. At no stage had it indicated that clients would be expected to pay for the upgrade, the sources said.
