Technical glitch a Black Swan event: Full text of NSE chairman's letter

A technical glitch at the NSE, India's biggest stock exchange, held up trade for 3 hours on Monday

Let us take this challenge as an opportunity, National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chairman Ashok Chawla said in a letter addressing the exchange's employees after the July 10 technical glitch that held up trade for hours.

As reported earlier, a technical glitch at the NSE, the country’s biggest stock exchange, held up trade for three hours on Monday in the cash and derivatives segments. 

The problem occurred at the beginning of the session when several brokers complained stock and index quotes were not being updated. The NSE immediately suspended trading in the cash segment. 

Trading was normal in the futures and options (F&O) segment but the NSE halted operations at 9:55 am. After the two failed attempts at 10:45 am and 11:15 am, trading resumed at 12:30 pm.

Here is the full text of Chawla's letter: 

Dear Colleagues,

The year FY 2016-2017 has been a year of many highs and lows for all of us at the National Stock Exchange (NSE). We have done well financially and continued our robust market presence. At the same time, it has been a period of challenges- challenges on the organisational front, stress over the legacy technology issues, re-energising of relations with stakeholders across the spectrum from the regulator to shareholders.

Yesterday's technical glitch is, proverbially speaking, one more straw on the camel's back.  While such a situation is a Black Swan event, it unfortunately puts the NSE in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. We have handled this effectively, which is indeed our responsibility as the largest exchange of the country.

Today I am writing to convey that we are no doubt passing through difficult times but that we shall overcome. I say this based on my experience of a year as the Chairman of the Board. The capability and professionalism of the NSE's human capital is well known and I have been fortunate to have seen it from close quarters.

Colleagues, in this time of organisational stress, let us resolve to treat the challenge as opportunity. Let us work as a family to once again show that it is not for nothing that the NSE has become a world-class institution in a short span of 25 years.

My best wishes to you and success in all your endeavours.

Yours sincerely,

Ashok Chawla