[h=2]SGX Chief Op and Tech Officer is a finance person[/h]
November 6th, 2014 |
Author: Editorial
Mr Tim Utama, SGX Chief Operations & Technology Officer (Photo: SGX website)
Trading on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) was disrupted yesterday afternoon (5 Nov) due to “multiple power supply issues, affecting SGX’s hardware providing market participants’ connectivity”, SGX said in a media release.
“The outage did not arise from a cyber attack,” SGX added, squelching rumors that hackers might have somehow managed to hit at the heart of Singapore’s financial centre by crippling the SGX’s computers.
Trades in both the securities and derivatives markets were affected.
The securities market and the derivatives market reopened at 5.15pm and 7pm respectively, after SGX managed to restore its trading system. In all, the securities and derivatives markets were paralyzed for about 3 hours yesterday due to the hardware failure.
Trading volumes plunged to $728 million yesterday compared with the recent average of $1 billion.
“We apologise for today’s outage and the inconvenience caused to market participants. We are currently investigating the root cause for the disruption,” said SGX Chief Operations and Technology Officer Tim Utama yesterday.
The system malfunction was the worst since 2007, when frenzied trading overloaded and crashed the system. As a result, SGX was forced to upgrade its system. In 2010, it spent $250 million to buy a state-of-the-art system able to execute orders 3,000 times faster than the blink of an eye. The SGX also developed precautionary measures to ensure it could cope with a host of crises.
Still, despite all the precautionary measures in place, the SGX system went down for 3 hours.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore which regulates SGX said that it “is following up closely with SGX on the investigations”.
A netizen joked, “SGX no money to pay PUB.”
SGX’s Chief Operations and Technology Officer appointed 2 years ago
In September 2012, SGX announced the appointment of Timothy Utama as its Chief Operations and Technology Officer, effective 1 December 2012 [Link]. Mr Utama joined SGX’s senior management team and reported to the Chief Executive, Magnus Bocker.
“We are pleased to welcome Mr Utama to our management team. His diverse and global experience and knowledge will help further improve our operations and technology capabilities,” Mr Bocker then said.
Mr Utama actually started his career in banking with Bank of Trade (LippoBank) as Senior Credit Analyst/Account Executive in Los Angeles from 1989 to 1991 [Link].
In 1991, he joined Standard Chartered. For the next 13 years, he held various positions there:
After his stint with Standard Chartered, he joined Indonesian bank PT Bank Permata Tbk in 2010. There, he was on its Executive Board of Directors as their Technology and Operations Director from 2010 to 2012. In December 2012, he jumped ship to SGX where he now serves as its Chief Operations and Technology Officer.
Mr Utama holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accountancy and Finance from Texas A&M University, College Station, USA.
Update (6 Nov 5pm):
SGX said a malfunction in the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems at SGX’s data centre had caused the outage. It said power is supplied to the data centre from 2 separate substations, which is then connected to the individual UPS systems. A “momentary fluctuation in power supply from the substations” caused the UPS systems to switch to an internal power source, but these power sources malfunctioned.
“As a prudent market operator, we are firmly committed to investor protection and market integrity. We take seriously yesterday’s incident and remain focused on delivering the highest possible levels of service availability,” Mr Utama said.
Trading on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) was disrupted yesterday afternoon (5 Nov) due to “multiple power supply issues, affecting SGX’s hardware providing market participants’ connectivity”, SGX said in a media release.
“The outage did not arise from a cyber attack,” SGX added, squelching rumors that hackers might have somehow managed to hit at the heart of Singapore’s financial centre by crippling the SGX’s computers.
Trades in both the securities and derivatives markets were affected.
The securities market and the derivatives market reopened at 5.15pm and 7pm respectively, after SGX managed to restore its trading system. In all, the securities and derivatives markets were paralyzed for about 3 hours yesterday due to the hardware failure.
Trading volumes plunged to $728 million yesterday compared with the recent average of $1 billion.
“We apologise for today’s outage and the inconvenience caused to market participants. We are currently investigating the root cause for the disruption,” said SGX Chief Operations and Technology Officer Tim Utama yesterday.
The system malfunction was the worst since 2007, when frenzied trading overloaded and crashed the system. As a result, SGX was forced to upgrade its system. In 2010, it spent $250 million to buy a state-of-the-art system able to execute orders 3,000 times faster than the blink of an eye. The SGX also developed precautionary measures to ensure it could cope with a host of crises.
Still, despite all the precautionary measures in place, the SGX system went down for 3 hours.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore which regulates SGX said that it “is following up closely with SGX on the investigations”.
A netizen joked, “SGX no money to pay PUB.”
SGX’s Chief Operations and Technology Officer appointed 2 years ago
In September 2012, SGX announced the appointment of Timothy Utama as its Chief Operations and Technology Officer, effective 1 December 2012 [Link]. Mr Utama joined SGX’s senior management team and reported to the Chief Executive, Magnus Bocker.
“We are pleased to welcome Mr Utama to our management team. His diverse and global experience and knowledge will help further improve our operations and technology capabilities,” Mr Bocker then said.
Mr Utama actually started his career in banking with Bank of Trade (LippoBank) as Senior Credit Analyst/Account Executive in Los Angeles from 1989 to 1991 [Link].
In 1991, he joined Standard Chartered. For the next 13 years, he held various positions there:
- SCB Indonesia from 1991 to 1992
- Profit Improvement Unit Officer SCB Regional Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia from 1992 to 1993
- Head of Trade Services from 1993 to 1995
- Senior Manager Middle Market from 1995 to 1997
- Senior Manager, Trade Products Group Trade Banking from 1997 to 1998
- Head of Service Delivery from 1998 to 2000
- Head of Global Clients from 2000 to 2002
- Head of Banking Operations from 2002 to 2003
- Senior Manager, Service Excellence from 2003 to 2004
- Head of Trade Service Delivery from 2004 to 2007
- Head of Trade Sales from 2007 to 2008
After his stint with Standard Chartered, he joined Indonesian bank PT Bank Permata Tbk in 2010. There, he was on its Executive Board of Directors as their Technology and Operations Director from 2010 to 2012. In December 2012, he jumped ship to SGX where he now serves as its Chief Operations and Technology Officer.
Mr Utama holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accountancy and Finance from Texas A&M University, College Station, USA.
Update (6 Nov 5pm):
SGX said a malfunction in the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems at SGX’s data centre had caused the outage. It said power is supplied to the data centre from 2 separate substations, which is then connected to the individual UPS systems. A “momentary fluctuation in power supply from the substations” caused the UPS systems to switch to an internal power source, but these power sources malfunctioned.
“As a prudent market operator, we are firmly committed to investor protection and market integrity. We take seriously yesterday’s incident and remain focused on delivering the highest possible levels of service availability,” Mr Utama said.
