<p>Japan's financial regulator is conducting an on-site inspection of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) on Friday to investigate the causes behind a full-day trading halt earlier this month, Finance Minister Taro Aso said.</p>.<p>The Financial Services Agency's (FSA) probe comes as the TSE, operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc, said this week that a newly formed committee would draw up fresh guidelines by next March on how to restart trading following a system failure.</p>.<p>"I think it's necessary to ensure a resumption of trade on the same day, by the afternoon (when trade is suspended)," Aso told a news conference. "The fact that there were no rules concerning that kind of thing is a problem."</p>.<p>The all-day trading halt on Oct. 1 was the worst-ever outage since the world's third-largest equity market switched to all-electronic trading in 1999, in an embarrassing incident that tarnished Tokyo's reputation.</p>.<p>The committee, comprising investors, members from investment banks, IT ventures, and a representative from the regulator, is due to hold its first meeting on Friday, the TSE has said.</p>.<p>Local media have said the FSA was considering administrative penalties for the TSE, including a business improvement order, depending on the outcome of its probe.</p>.<p>The exchange has said the suspension was caused by a hardware problem and a subsequent failure to switch to a backup. Fujitsu Ltd, which developed the trading system, separately said the backup failed due to a software update and an outdated user manual for a memory storage system.</p>
<p>Japan's financial regulator is conducting an on-site inspection of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) on Friday to investigate the causes behind a full-day trading halt earlier this month, Finance Minister Taro Aso said.</p>.<p>The Financial Services Agency's (FSA) probe comes as the TSE, operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc, said this week that a newly formed committee would draw up fresh guidelines by next March on how to restart trading following a system failure.</p>.<p>"I think it's necessary to ensure a resumption of trade on the same day, by the afternoon (when trade is suspended)," Aso told a news conference. "The fact that there were no rules concerning that kind of thing is a problem."</p>.<p>The all-day trading halt on Oct. 1 was the worst-ever outage since the world's third-largest equity market switched to all-electronic trading in 1999, in an embarrassing incident that tarnished Tokyo's reputation.</p>.<p>The committee, comprising investors, members from investment banks, IT ventures, and a representative from the regulator, is due to hold its first meeting on Friday, the TSE has said.</p>.<p>Local media have said the FSA was considering administrative penalties for the TSE, including a business improvement order, depending on the outcome of its probe.</p>.<p>The exchange has said the suspension was caused by a hardware problem and a subsequent failure to switch to a backup. Fujitsu Ltd, which developed the trading system, separately said the backup failed due to a software update and an outdated user manual for a memory storage system.</p>