A strange occurrence earlier Tuesday at CME Group, reports the FT:
CME Group, the world’s biggest futures exchange, mistakenly placed orders on active energy and metals markets as it was undertaking a quality assurance procedure.
CME declined to say which contracts were placed into the live market or how many orders were sent or executed, but a person familiar with the situation numbered them in the tens of thousands. …
The company said it had “inadvertently” posted test orders intended for its quality assurance procedure on Globex, the electronic trading system introduced in energy and metal markets in 2006.
It remains unclear exactly what happened — whether a rotten algo, extra keystroke, or something else is to blame. The test orders were placed during a six-minute stretch that started at 2:38pm EST, and while CME Group claims that no prices were affected, the FT cites claims to the contrary.
Here is the full statement from the CME Group:
During a six minute period beginning at 2:38 pm (CDT) on Monday, September 13, test orders that should have been posted into a quality assurance testing environment were inadvertently placed into active energy and metals markets on CME Globex. As soon as we became aware of the issue, we began working with affected customers and implemented other corrective steps. We have also kept the Commodity Futures Trading Commission apprised of developments related to this event. CME Group will address these transactions in accordance with its Rule 587.
We’ll let you know if we learn more.
Related link:
There’s a silver lining in every flash crash… – FT Alphaville