Nasdaq ‘to compensate Facebook shareholders over disastrous IPO’

The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday will come as the Nasdaq OMX Group reveals further details on how it will reimburse some of the reported $100m losses sustained by banks and trading firms, reports The Telegraph.

Facebook’s hugely anticipated initial public offering on May 18 was delayed by about 30 minutes following problems with Nasdaq’s exchange systems.
The pause left brokers with million of shares’ worth of unconfirmed trades, the results of which were not known for two hours.

Shares in the social network – which began at $38 – have since plummeted more than 30pc.

Nasdaq executives have previously indicated that they will use $10.7m gained from the the group’s own unexpected position in Facebook shares on the day of the IPO, adding to Nasdaq’s standing $3m cap on compensation payable to exchange customers that lose money due to system outages.

A spokesman for the SEC declined to comment to WSJ. Representatives for Nasdaq had no immediate comment to WSJ.

The news comes after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was sued by shareholders over the IPO.

The lawsuit accuses Mr Zuckerberg, Facebook and several banks led by Morgan Stanley of hiding the company’s weakened growth forecasts ahead of its $16bn initial public offering.

Facebook shares fell a further 3.8pc on Tuesday to close at $25.86.