About a-team Marketing Services
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Blogs

Bats Apologises for System Glitch; Confirms Opening of Own Symbol Was Cause

Subscribe to our newsletter

Bats Global Markets sent a message to its members from CEO Joe Ratterman on Sunday night, noting: “Bats experienced a serious technical failure Friday morning and I want to apologise for not measuring up to the level of excellence that you have come to expect from us. You undoubtedly have heard that we experienced a system problem in our attempt to open the BATS ticker symbol for the first time on Friday morning. We failed to roll into continuous trading with our new BATS ticker immediately following the opening auction. In effect, our newly issued stock did not begin trading as it should and was halted before it ever started trading.”

The message also explained: “In addition to several months of our own internal testing, we thoroughly tested this new auction functionality with trading participants for many weeks prior to Friday. It shouldn’t have failed, but it did, and the timing couldn’t have been worse.” The Bats IPO was in fact the first usage of this new functionality, following on from the exchange’s move into the primary listings business.

In a follow up message Monday morning, Bats acknowledged that the glitch “played a role” in a dive in Apple’s share price, which resulted in trading of it being suspended for five minutes under circuit breaker rules.

The exchange also noted that its IPO is now on hold, and that it has “a lot of work to do” to be seen as a credible venue for the listing of other companies’ stock.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Recorded Webinar: Unlocking Competitive Edge with Outsourcing and Managed Services in Trading Technology

Outsourcing has emerged as a strategic solution for capital markets firms as trading technology infrastructures become more complex, data volumes grow exponentially, and regulatory pressures intensify. .By leveraging third-party expertise, firms can optimise operations, reduce costs, and focus on innovation in their trading technology stack. Outsourcing potentially enables firms to scale seamlessly, meet regulatory reporting...

BLOG

A (Free) Practical AI Handbook for Capital Markets Professionals

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has swiftly transitioned from a promising concept into an operational reality across the capital markets. Senior executives, compliance leaders, and technology specialists are already well-acquainted with the potential of AI to streamline processes, enhance decision-making, and open new competitive opportunities. Yet, the current challenge isn’t about grasping AI’s transformative potential – it’s...

EVENT

TradingTech Summit London

Now in its 14th year the TradingTech Summit London brings together the European trading technology capital markets industry and examines the latest changes and innovations in trading technology and explores how technology is being deployed to create an edge in sell side and buy side capital markets financial institutions.

GUIDE

AI in Capital Markets: Practical Insight for a Transforming Industry – Free Handbook

AI is no longer on the horizon – it’s embedded in the infrastructure of modern capital markets. But separating real impact from inflated promises requires a grounded, practical understanding. The AI in Capital Markets Handbook 2025 provides exactly that. Designed for data-driven professionals across the trade life-cycle, compliance, infrastructure, and strategy, this handbook goes beyond...