Nasdaq OMX insists that human error, rather than technology, was behind its latest botched initial public offering (IPO).
WhiteHorse Finance was set to make its debut at 11:00 am on Wednesday but a human error saw the Nasdaq put it back to 3:00 pm.
The exchange had had agreed with WhiteHorse and its underwriter to push trading beyond the 11:00 am slot but instead of extending the IPO, someone on the market surveillance team cancelled it.
According to a Reuters' source: "This was a human error, this wasn't a trading system or a computerised glitch."
The mix up comes as Nasdaq tries to repair the reputational damage caused by its bungled Facebook IPO in May, where a series of technical issues cost investors tens of millions of dollars.