Egypt’s traders demand probe into EGX power outage
Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) traders and investors have demanded an immediate investigation into Monday’s service disruptions at the Misr for Central Clearing, Depository and Registry (MCDR). The outage significantly impacted trading by leaving many investor orders unfilled.
Traders slammed the company’s claim of a power outage, calling it inadequate. They demanded a deep dive into the actual cause, be it human error or technical malfunction, to ensure such incidents never cripple the market again.
They called for transparent explanations from MCDR management regarding the outage and its cause, given the damaging rumours and negative press coverage.
Meanwhile, executives from securities trading companies told Amwal Al Ghad English that disruptions to clearing services are a recurring problem. However, they stressed that these issues typically last a few minutes, unlike the recent extended outage. They emphasised the urgent need for comprehensive solutions to prevent such disruptions from negatively impacting stock market transaction.
They further revealed that custodian banks received a friendly notification from MCDR yesterday, informing them of a power outage that would result in the cancellation of some sell orders until service resumes.
The outage affected the supply side of shares traded on the same day, the following day, and the day after that (“t+0, t+1, t+2”). This caused confusion among traders and consequently impacted trading volumes. Yesterday’s trading volume settled at approximately 764 million shares executed in 78,000 transactions, with a total value of around 3 billion Egyptian pounds.
Well-informed sources told Amwal Al Ghad English that MCDR, since inception, has been equipped to handle the power outage issue by operating through an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) unit until the generators are activated. Furthermore, the system can be switched to the company’s secondary server located at its headquarters in the Fifth Settlement, which benefits from dual power lines to ensure the uninterrupted provision of services, the sources added.
Other sources familiar with the matter, surveyed by Amwal Al Ghad English, pointed out that the electricity company officially notified MCDR of a power outage at the company’s headquarters from 7:00 am to 8:00am, to reduce power loads. This was done in recognition of the company’s important role and before the start of trading on the Egyptian Stock Exchange, they clarified.
Egyptian bourse indices closed Monday’s trading in a collective decline. The main market index, EGX30, fell 1.67% to settle at 28,114 points. The market capitalisation reached 1.904 trillion Egyptian pounds, incurring losses of 30 billion Egyptian pounds, amid selling pressure from foreign and Arab investors.
