Nasdaq’s Handling of Facebook: 'Not Our Finest Hour'
When Britain was about to defend itself and possibly be the last country to stand in the way of the German blitzkrieg, Winston Churchill called upon his countrymen to prove to the world that “this was their finest hour.”
For Nasdaq OMX Group, the launch of the first offering of Facebook shares to the public was a chance to display its prowess in handling the largest initial public offering and establish a shining moment in its history.
That didn’t happen. Trading opened a half hour late on Friday. Orders placed on its IPO Cross system did not get delivered to the market. For about two hours, Nasdaq could not issue quotes on Facebook shares. And, yet, it continued trading in Facebook shares, a possible violation of Regulation National Market System.
"This was not our finest hour," chief executive Robert Greifeld said Sunday, according to this BBC Report.
Angry traders and investors are bombarding Nasdaq officials with demands that the exchange make good on losses they say were incurred during the technical glitches Friday. “These people say that the demands for money could total $100 million or possibly more,’’ the BBC said. But Greifeld on Sunday was taking the position that the exchange was not liable for any losses.