The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) agreed to pay a USD 9 million civil fine to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in March 2026, following an incident on January 24, 2023, that disrupted opening auctions due to a computer system error.

On January 24, 2023, the NYSE inadvertently activated both its primary trading system, Pillar Production, and its backup disaster recovery system, Pillar DR, simultaneously. This mistake led the primary system to erroneously conclude that opening auctions for 2,824 out of 3,421 listed securities had already taken place.

Scope and Impact

As a result of this malfunction, trading was halted for 84 stocks, with 81 experiencing more than a 10% drop in value without any clear reason. Over 4,000 trades were subsequently canceled or “busted.” Affected companies included ExxonMobil, McDonald’s, 3M, Verizon, Walmart, and Wells Fargo. The NYSE also compensated member firms for trading losses amounting to more than USD 5.77 million.

The SEC noted that the NYSE took 39 minutes to recognize the error and 83 additional minutes to fully understand the extent of the disruption. This reaction time indicated a deficiency in well-documented policies for managing auction processes at critical exchanges.

In response, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the NYSE’s US parent company, optimized its procedures and systems following this event.

This case underscores the operational risks market infrastructure providers face when primary platforms interact with backup systems. It also emphasizes regulatory expectations regarding thorough documentation of auction management processes at pivotal trading venues.