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Nasdaq cuts bonus pay for botched IPO

Spectators in Times Square watch Facebook Co-Founder Mark Zuckerberg ring the opening bell at the Nasdaq in Times Square in New York City on May 18, 2012. Facebook Begins trading publicly for the first time today under the symbol (FB). UPI/John Angelillo
Spectators in Times Square watch Facebook Co-Founder Mark Zuckerberg ring the opening bell at the Nasdaq in Times Square in New York City on May 18, 2012. Facebook Begins trading publicly for the first time today under the symbol (FB). UPI/John Angelillo | License Photo

NEW YORK, April 12 (UPI) -- U.S. market operator Nasdaq OMX Group's board said it had trimmed executive bonuses to make up for Facebook's botched debut as a public company.

Facebook's initial public stock offering or IPO last May was met with a delayed start, missed transaction messages -- so brokers did not know if their deals had gone through -- and a period in which orders had to be filled by hand due to errors in the electronic system.

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The New York Times reported Friday Nasdaq categorized the errors as "systems issues."

"We failed to meet our own high standards based on our long history of providing outstanding technology to our members and exchange customers," Chief Executive Officer Robert Greifeld said at the time in apology.

In a regulatory filing, Nasdaq's board said it had cut Greifeld's 2012 bonus by 62 percent to $1.35 million and executive vice president of global technology solutions Anna Ewing's bonus by 53 percent to $574,125, citing problems with Facebook's IPO.

In the previous year, Greifeld's bonus came to $3.59 million. In the filing, it is referred to as the executives, "non-equity incentive plan compensation."

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His total pay for 2012 came to $8.9 million, the Times said.

The filing specifically said members of the board, "explicitly considered the Facebook IPO in connection with their review and determination of these reduced payouts."

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