Users to foot bill for extra Crest capacity

Users of the Crest electronic share settlement system face increased tariffs to cover the cost of an unplanned 60% increase in processing capacity.

Additional Tandem fault-tolerant systems will be installed this month to deal with increased demand, which is expected to increase further with the flotations of several building societies this summer.

Paul Symons, head of CrestCo corporate communications, said: 'Capacity has to be paid for ... and it would have been be imprudent to build a huge system from day one. It's sensible to bring the capacity online as it's needed.' He discounted the suggestion of a rights issue to cover the cost.

The lack of capacity has been seen as a serious oversight, causing backlogs and delays.

At its worst, the system was settling only 40% of transactions on the planned date. It is now hovering around 80%. Symons denied that backlogs are due to capacity shortfall. 'We're pleased with the current 80% settlement figure, and working hard to deal with the backlog. We are aiming for about 90% eventually.'