Facebook mulling change of stock exchange?

In the wake of its mishandled initial public offering on Nasdaq last week, Facebook is reportedly considering a proposal to switch its stock listing to the New York Stock Exchange.

Executives at the social network and the NYSE have exchanged phone calls and e-mails regarding a possible switch, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. A Facebook representative declined to comment on the report, but NYSE representatives denied such negotiations were occurring.

"There have been no discussions with Facebook regarding switching their listing in light of the events of the last week, nor do we think a discussion along those lines would be appropriate at this time," NYSE spokesman Robert Rendine said in a statement to the media.

A Nasdaq representative also declined to comment.

The revelation comes a day after Nasdaq expressed regret over the way the stock exchange handled Facebook's IPO, saying it would have further delayed the offering had it known the extent they would affect its trading system. Eric Noll, Nasdaq's head of transaction services, told customers yesterday that the exchange "by no means would have gone forward" with the much-anticipated offering had it known problems would disrupt a "normal trading day."

Noll said the exchange erred in its decision to proceed with the blockbuster offering after a 30-minute delay in the IPO's opening contributed to confusion among traders. Traders complained they were not able to confirm changes or cancellations made to Facebook orders starting as early as 4:30 a.m. PT. Later on in the morning, some traders said they had not received confirmation from Nasdaq that transactions had actually been completed.

A Maryland investor filed a lawsuit yesterday against Nasdaq over its mishandling of the IPO, claiming that investors lost money because the exchange failed to process buy, sell, and cancellation orders in a timely fashion.