The Tokyo Stock Exchange said Thursday it will slash the pay of its nine operating officers for the massive computer system breakdown that hit the world's second-largest equity market on Nov. 1.
President Takuo Tsurushima will get a 50 percent cut to his monthly remuneration for six months. The eight other executives will receive cuts ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent for between three and six months.
"The TSE is Japan's central market, and we take the incident, which impaired trust in the overall market, very seriously. This is why all operating officers will bear the blame," Tsurushima said.
Separately, Chairman Taizo Nishimuro has volunteered to take a 50 percent cut to his monthly allowance for half a year as well.
The TSE was forced to suspend all morning trading for the first time ever on Nov. 1, due to a computer glitch stemming from a trading capacity expansion implemented last month.
The TSE expanded its computer capacity in October to handle more buying or selling orders amid unprecedented levels of trading activity in the nation's stock markets.
On Monday, the TSE said the disruption was caused mainly by incomplete instructions from Fujitsu Ltd., the company that made the system, on how to fix a software error.
Following the TSE's announcement, Fujitsu announced that President Hiroaki Kurokawa would bear his share of the responsibility by reducing his pay.
The pay cut, which will also affect other Fujitsu executives, will be officially declared at a board meeting scheduled for later this month.
While blaming the system breakdown on Fujitsu, the TSE acknowledged that it failed to fully test the trading system after modifying the software according to Fujitsu's instructions.