This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 23, 2019 - December 29, 2019

Last Thursday, trading on Bursa Malaysia came to a halt at 4.45pm. There was no explanation as to what had caused the disruption except: “We will notify all relevant parties as soon as the issue has been resolved.”

The next day, trading resumed at 9am as usual. In a statement, Bursa said the disruption was due to a technical fault that had triggered the trading halt on the equity market.

Its CEO Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift apologised to all clients and Bursa’s stakeholders for the interruption in trading. “Our team took immediate action to diagnose the problem and communicate with all our participants while determining the cause and impact … The trading halt was not related to any cyber security compromise and our systems remain secure and protected,” he said.

Muhamad Umar said the problem was an isolated technical incident and that the team was taking the appropriate action to implement measures that will prevent its recurrence in the future. He added that the exchange remains focused on ensuring there is minimal disruption to trading.

But what caused the problem and what has Bursa done to rectify the issue and ensure it does not happen again?

Earlier, on Aug 23, the exchange’s FBM KLCI price feed experienced nearly an hour-long interruption.

Trading glitches hit even the biggest bourses in the world but steps must be taken to prevent them from happening frequently. Obviously, if it becomes the norm, investor confidence will be affected.

Malaysian equities are already deeply unpopular with foreign investors with the FBM KLCI down 4.76% year to date, making it one of the worst performers in the region.

Certainly, Bursa must make it one of its top priorities to keep its trading system running smoothly.

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