South Africa’s largest stock exchange, the JSE, has inked a deal with cloud IT giant Amazon Web Services to modernise its technology, including delivering real-time market data in the cloud.

The companies said in a joint statement on Monday that they will also collaborate in artificial intelligence and edge computing infrastructure while driving operational efficiencies. They will leverage AI (including generative AI), machine learning and blockchain technologies, they said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The bourse will start by embarking on an upgrade to its Broker Dealer Administration (BDA) system. “The BDA system is a critical application used by the JSE to manage risk and ensure the seamless functioning of equity markets. The demands of modern, always-on capital markets require the BDA system to be modernised from its legacy mainframe environment to meet the needs of broker-dealers,” it said.

“The BDA modernisation promises to enhance operational efficiency significantly, reduce running costs and technical debt, and increase the agility of the JSE in responding to the demands of its capital market broker community.”

The modernisation from a legacy mainframe application will provider broker-dealers with a “richer user experience and improved analytics, and leverage a secure, modern architecture for a more flexible integration with the JSE”, it added.

“The JSE’s commitment to drive efficiencies and an inclusive cloud-based marketplace has the potential to transform the way capital markets operate in South Africa,” said Tanuja Randery, MD of AWS in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

‘Prepared’

The companies said their collaboration will also:

Improve the delivery of real-time market data in the cloud and the delivery of cloud proximity offerings by utilising AWS’s global infrastructure and low-latency edge computing services.
See the JSE using AWS’s analytics and AI services to develop new tools and services leading to smarter and more informed execution strategies.
See the JSE using AWS generative AI capabilities, through Amazon Bedrock, which offers a choice of foundation models from various AI companies via a single application programming interface.

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JSE CEO Leila Fourie said in the statement that the deal with AWS is not only about modernising stock market infrastructure. “We are setting new standards for the industry, ensuring that our markets are more inclusive, efficient and prepared for the future,” she said. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media