Thousands of Russian private investors who sustained losses after the first day of the combined MICEX-RTS stock exchange was hit by a technical failure may seek compensation through courts of law, business daily Kommersant reported on Wednesday.
The technical failure occurred at 7:09 p.m. on Monday when the internet trading system QUIK produced a message on technical problems in the RTS and possibly an incorrect recording of orders. As a result, the system started to register unauthorized transactions, with losses largely sustained by thousands of private investors.
The paper quoted the head of Russia’s Federal Financial Markets Service, Dmitry Pankin, as saying that the regulator had requested information from the single stock exchange on the technical failure to conduct a formal investigation and “if the exchange’s fault is proven, clients will be able to apply to courts of law with compensation claims.”
The MICEX-RTS exchange publicly apologized on Tuesday for the technical failure but said it did not force private investors to close their positions after trading resumed on Tuesday night.
The volume of trade during an evening session on the FORTS derivates market normally amounts to 20 billion rubles ($625 million).
At the ceremony of launching the single exchange on Monday, its First Deputy Chairman Roman Goryunov said that market participants were pinning big hopes on the combined trading floor.
“This is an historic day. I believe that market participants are pinning great hopes on the merger of the exchanges and we’ll try not to disappoint you,” he said.
