Almost every Australian has a stake in how well the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) works. Most working adults have superannuation savings invested in companies listed on the ASX, which together are valued at more than A$3 trillion.

If you’re among the millions of members of big super funds AustralianSuper and UniSuper, those industry funds are some of the biggest investors in the publicly listed ASX itself. So you could also have a direct stake in the ASX too.

Yet after a decade of costly technology failures, outages and embarrassing mix-ups, an independent report has just found the “ASX is at serious risk of falling further behind without a fundamental reset”.

Those damning findings come just weeks before the ASX is due to launch a long-delayed replacement for its antiquated trading technology. If that April 20 launch goes well, it could finally be a step in the right direction.

But until the ASX comes under more pressure from competitors and its shareholders, it’s hard to see that “fundamental reset” happening any time soon. Here’s why.

What the corporate watchdog found

On Thursday, as Australians were packing up for their Easter holidays, corporate regulator the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released the final findings of a nine-month independent inquiry into the ASX. It didn’t hold back.

The report found the ASX had “systemic, long-standing and deeply embedded” issues,........

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