Forwarded-by: Nev Dull <[email protected]>
Forwarded-by: "Geoffrey S. Knauth" <[email protected]>
Forwarded-by: Tom Schuneman <[email protected]>
PARIS (Reuters) - Electronic trading may be cheap, but leaning on the
keyboard can be costly. A mystery plunge in the value of French 10-year
bond futures on July 23 was triggered by a bank trader at Salomon Brothers
in London who accidentally and repeatedly hit the "Instant Sell" button,
investigators said Thursday.
A wave of 145 separate sell orders sent the price diving on electronic
screens.
"The disputed trades arose as a result of the prolonged, unintentional
and inadvertent operation of the 'Instant Sell' key," said an
investigation by computer software firm Cap Gemini and security group
Kroll Associates.
Salomon Brothers declined to comment on any losses.