NYSE fined $9 million by SEC over glitch that disrupted stock market.

The ⁠New York Stock ⁠Exchange has agreed to pay a $9 million civil ​fine to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges over ‌a computer glitch that disrupted ‌the stock market open in January 2023, causing ⁠wild swings ⁠in the prices of blue-chip stocks.

Friday’s settlement stemmed from ​a January 24, 2023, incident where the NYSE ran its primary and backup trading systems Pillar Production and Pillar DR -- short ​for “disaster recovery” -- simultaneously by mistake.

The SEC said the inadvertent error ⁠caused the ⁠primary system to ⁠mistakenly ​treat opening auctions for 2,824 of the NYSE’s 3,421 listed securities ​at the time ⁠as having already occurred.

This led to trading halts for 84 stocks, including 81 whose prices fell more than 10% without any obvious explanation, and more than 4,000 undone, or “busted”, ⁠trades.

Stocks affected by the glitch included ExxonMobil, McDonald’s, 3M, Verizon, Walmart ⁠and Wells Fargo.

According to the SEC, the NYSE needed 39 minutes to realize it botched the opening auctions and 83 minutes to recognize the scope of damage.

This allegedly reflected the exchange’s lack of written policies and procedures to support the auctions. The NYSE paid member companies more than $5.77 million for trading losses.

In ⁠a statement, Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange said it has enhanced its procedures and systems, and that “NYSE opening and closing auctions continue to be the most reliable liquidity event ​for NYSE-listed symbols.”

A top Australian central ⁠banker ⁠said on Friday that ⁠the days of U.S. “exorbitant privilege” may be coming to ​an end, but the dollar’s safe-haven rally this week after the Middle ‌East war suggests any ‌change will be glacial.

Speaking at a policy forum in New ⁠York, Reserve ⁠Bank of Australia Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser said there was ​little sign yet of a persistent decline in the perceived security of the United States, even though the greenback did fall during market volatility ​over U.S. trade policy last year.

“While the events of 2025 could ⁠be ⁠a sign that things ⁠have ​changed, what we saw was far from unique. It is surely noteworthy ​that the dollar did ⁠appreciate following the recent attacks on Iran,” said Hauser.

“In truth, the dollar has never been a perfect hedge for all risk-off events, appreciating most persistently during periods of funding stress associated with strong ⁠demand for the currency.”

He added foreigners remained large buyers of U.S. ⁠assets despite media stories and commentary about investors withdrawing from the U.S. to seek alternative assets elsewhere including in Australia, noting that capital flows into Australia have remained broadly in line with previous years.

However, there has been an important change, Hauser noted, as the pickup in capital flows into the United States over the past year reflects buying of ⁠equity rather than debt.

He said that suggests the possibility of a move away from the world of “exorbitant privilege” that has allowed the U.S. to borrow as much as it wants because ​the dollar is the global reserve currency.