The trading disruption that caused the TMX Group to shutter Canada’s major markets early on Feb. 27 was caused by a shortage of messaging capacity in its trading engine.
Trading was halted prematurely on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) and the TSX Alpha Exchange (Alpha) amid technical difficulties.
“The interruption was caused by a system capacity issue within the messaging technology component of TMX’s trading engine,” the company said in a statement, adding that it was not the result of a cyberattack.
“TMX’s subsequent attempts to restart the trading system encountered further complications that could not be resolved in a timely manner during trading hours,” it said.
Additionally, it was unable to launch its disaster recovery systems in time to “ensure an orderly market re-open and closing session.”
As a result, trading on its various equities markets was halted shortly before 2 p.m., and the Montréal Exchange halted trading on its equity derivatives at the same time.
The market opened normally on Feb. 28 after the TMX took action to address the issue, “including significantly increasing the capacity” of the messaging component that was overwhelmed the previous day.