The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is heading for a rough and tumble few weeks. As a publicly traded stock on its own exchange, it is facing a public spat with shareholders at its forthcoming annual meeting over how well it has executed its responsibilities to supervise the market.

The level of disclosure around the reporting of short selling – plus waivers granted to the listing rule that is supposed to enshrine the principle that one share equals one vote – are among the thorny issues put on the agenda by RiskMetrics, the corporate governance specialist that has a knack of forcing companies to sit up and take notice and then act.