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Despite report, UBS says no lawsuit yet over Facebook mess

Two tweets from a CNBC account say investment bank UBS lost $350 million and plans to sue. UBS says only that it's "continuing to consider avenues" to recover its losses.

Donna Tam Staff Writer / News
Donna Tam covers Amazon and other fun stuff for CNET News. She is a San Francisco native who enjoys feasting, merrymaking, checking her Gmail and reading her Kindle.
Donna Tam
2 min read
 

After a couple of tweets said investment bank UBS plans to sue the Nasdaq overFacebook trading losses, the investment bank said it is still examining how to recoup its losses from the Facebook IPO and has yet to file suit.

Two tweets from CNBC's Twitter account this morning said UBS could have lost as much as $350 million on Facebook trading and was "preparing legal action against Nasdaq as a result of Facebook trading loss."

Previous estimates have put collective loss at more than $100 million, but market maker Knight Capital Group said its own losses are close to $200 million. UBS declined to disclose its losses.

"Given the size of our U.S. Equities business and our role as a major market maker, UBS was affected by these issues, as we believe other market participants may have been," UBS spokeswoman Karina Byrne said in a statement e-mailed to CNET today. "Consistent with our policy on market comments on our positions or intra-quarter performance, we are not disclosing the amount of the loss, which is not material to UBS. We are continuing to consider avenues to recover our losses in this matter, but have not yet taken legal action."

Nasdaq continues to come under fire for its mishandling of Facebook's IPO on May 13. The day started after a 30-minute delay, and traders complained they were not able to confirm changes or cancellations made to Facebook orders. Later on in the morning, some traders said they had not received confirmation from Nasdaq that transactions had actually been completed.

The stock exchange has submitted plans for a $40 million payout for banks and traders, but critics have said it's just not enough.