Australia’s ASX says ‘turning point’ reached after trading outages

By Scott Murdoch SYDNEY, Oct 22 (Reuters) The Australian Securities Exchange s chair said on Thursday the company had reached a turning point in addressing its regulatory troubles, and maintained its ​lower dividend payout ratio and higher cost guidance for ‌the year ahead. The ASX has faced a number of trading outages and settlement delays over the past three years following a failed technology overhaul, which led the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to order the exchange to hold an extra ‌A$150 ​million ($105 million) in capital and renew its ⁠infrastructure. My clear view is that ⁠ASX has reached an important turning point, ASX Chair David Clarke told shareholders at the company s annual meeting on Thursday. We did not get here through one action or one appointment, but ​through several years of confronting difficult issues, making important changes and rebuilding key foundations step by step. To help meet the regulator s ⁠order issued last December, ASX cut i