Private trading venue operator and brokerage, Investment Technology Group Inc. (ITG), has suspended trading for the rest of the day citing “catastrophic problems” at its data centre in Weehawken, New Jersey, according to Bloomberg.
Due to the risk of over-heating, ITG and other affected users of the data centre took the decision to halt operations.
Trading and brokerage operations were taken off-line at 1 p.m., with Jamie Selway, Managing Director of ITG, describing a raft of technical issues related to heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Due to the risk of over-heating, ITG and other affected users of the data centre took the decision to halt operations.
The decision includes suspending trading on the firm’s Posit private trading venue, also known as a Dark Pool of Liquidity , where traders can buy and sell securities anonymously. WJS reported that according to data from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, ITG’s Posit trading venue handled trading of nearly 100 million shares for the two-week period beginning August 3.
“We shut down all trading operations so we can be sure,” said Mr Selway. “It’s the wrong kind of market to be taking that kind of chance.”
It’s the wrong kind of market to be taking that kind of chance.
Other trading venues with a presence at the data centre are reportedly unaffected by the heat-related problems, which can cause serious malfunction of the equipment.
Both BATS Global Market’s U.S. stock exchanges and another private trading venue operated by IEX Group Inc. continue to function, despite both companies having some equipment at the same data centre. However, critical infrastructure for the running of their venues is located elsewhere.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged ITG with operating a secret trading desk and misusing the confidential trading information of dark pool subscribers.
