Good evening,

Iress, the ASX-listed software group behind the most popular stockbroking platform in the country, is facing a backlash from irate sell-side clients as it tries to push through price rises of more than 6.5 per cent.

Over the past two weeks, stockbrokers across the street have received emails stating their cost of using Iress’ third-party licence will rise to $999 come April 1 – on top of a 6 per cent increase a year ago. Although the cost increase for one license appears small, stockbroking firms can have tens to hundreds of licences, known as seats, one for every employee.

In tandem with the price rises, Iress’ staff have also kicked off one-on-one meetings with its sell-side clients to discuss a one-off fee. While this new impost has been relayed in person only, people who have been briefed about the plans said it would start at about $70,000 per firm.

That money will be used to bankroll a system update required by the ASX. In its simplest terms, the ASX wants to turn on the entire bourse at the same time – it currently opens stocks for trading in alphabetical order, which means APA Group starts trading a few minutes before Xero.

Read the full story: Iress faces horde of irate stockbrokers over big fee hikes

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