The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has named Tim Whiteley for the Chief Information Officer (CIO) position, effective July 1. The appointment came as an internal promotion as Whiteley joined the exchange operator last November as a Project Director for CHESS replacement.

New ASX CIO

ASX created the standalone CIO role last March by splitting it from a combined position, which included technology and data, held by Dan Chesterman. The move was strategic as Chesterman continued to head technology and data, the exchange’s fastest-growing areas.

“This change will enable Dan and his high-performing team to focus their energy on growing new areas of data and technology innovation,” said the Managing Director and CEO of ASX, Helen Lofthouse.

The announcement detailed that Whiteley will continue to head ASX’s troubled CHESS replacement efforts. Initially, the exchange decided to replace the legacy CHESS with a blockchain-based system. However, after years of development, it has scrapped blockchain for conventional technologies.

“The CHESS Replacement Solution Design team will continue to be led by Tim while he puts in place a new leadership team structure for the CHESS replacement program,” Lofthouse stated. “As CIO, he will also have accountability for delivery of the technical aspects of the CHESS replacement program.”

An Experienced Executive

Whiteley is an experienced financial services industry executive. Before joining ASX, he spent almost seven years as a General Manager at Westpac Group. He was also a Director at The Boston Consulting Group for a year and spent another ten years at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. On top of that, he worked at CommSec and Colonial State Bank.

“Tim is a highly skilled technology transformation executive who brings to ASX more than 25 years’ experience in business and technology roles across Australian financial services,” Lofthouse added.

“Tim’s deep expertise in technology and project execution in the financial services industry will be invaluable as ASX looks to contemporize its technology and deliver critical market infrastructure.”