June 24, 2015 - The Singapore Exchange is set to spend S$20 million upgrading its technology and freeze its fees after being reprimanded by the city state's regulator over outages last year.

In November the bourse was hit by a power failure that stopped stock and derivatives trading. Just a month later a software error saw the opening of trading delayed by more than three hours.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has criticised SGX's monitoring and recovery systems in relation to the power outage incident, ordering an overhaul expected to cost S$20 million. SGX will have to boost its monitoring systems, strengthen business continuity and disaster recovery procedures, and improve communications with stakeholders.

Until this is done, the exchange cannot raise fee for its securities and derivatives markets.

Ong Chong Tee, deputy MD, financial supervision, MAS, says: "Financial institutions have the responsibility to ensure the resilience of their technological systems. They should effectively manage their technology risks and ensure prompt recovery when incidents arise so as to minimise service disruption to customers."

SGX says that it accepts MAS's reprimand and in addition to the technology spending will contribute S$1 million to Singapore's Investor Education Fund.