The New York Stock Exchange will allow trading firms to test
their systems in preparation for Twitter Inc.'s initial public
offering, as market participants seek to prevent technical failures
like those that marred Facebook Inc.'s (FB) debut last year.
The exchange, run by NYSE Euronext (NYX), will let firms test
their trading systems in a mock opening auction of Twitter's stock,
it said in a notice to traders Friday. The dry run is set for
Saturday, Oct. 26.
Earlier this week, Twitter revealed in a regulatory filing it
would list its shares on the NYSE with the ticker symbol TWTR.
NYSE officials planned the Twitter testing in response to
requests by market participants, a person familiar with the matter
said. While weekend testing of the exchanges' systems is common,
such testing typically doesn't relate to the new listing of a
stock, the person said.
Twitter's hotly anticipated IPO could take place as soon as
November. The roadshow to market the deal to investors could begin
as soon as Oct. 25, according to people close to the discussions,
although it isn't clear if it will.
The NYSE exercise comes a year and a half after technological
problems at the Nasdaq Stock Market complicated Facebook's trading
debut in May 2012.
Problems with the exchange's system contributed to a 30-minute
delay in Facebook's market debut. Brokers who had entered trades on
investors' behalf waited more than two hours to learn the status of
their orders, and in many cases the results weren't what they
expected. The problem resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars
in losses and lawsuits brought by investors and trading firms.
In May, Nasdaq paid $10 million to settle charges brought by the
Securities and Exchange Commission, which claimed the exchange
company broke market rules during Facebook's IPO. Nasdaq didn't
admit or deny any wrongdoing as part of that settlement.
Tests Nasdaq had conducted ahead of Facebook's IPO failed to
detect those problems, Nasdaq Chief Executive Robert Greifeld has
said.
Write to Matt Jarzemsky at matthew.jarzemsky@dowjones.com
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