Citadel Securities Urges SEC To Accept Nasdaq Facebook IPO Settlement Proposal

The $62 million settlement proposal by Nasdaq parent Nasdaq OMX Group to compensate firms affected by the technical issues that marred Facebook’s initial public offering has at least one strong backer in Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel Securities.

Bloomberg reported that Citadel sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday urging that it accept the stock exchange’s settlement offer.

Citadel said in its SEC letter that its Citadel Execution Services unit traded more than $3.8 billion of Facebook stock for customers on May 18, the day of the IPO, according to Bloomberg, which added that Citadel lost about $35 million in Facebook IPO-related trading, while Knight Capital Group took a $35.4 million hit.

Citadel wrote, as reported by Bloomberg:

It is entirely appropriate for Nasdaq to establish a special accommodation plan to compensate members for certain losses that directly resulted from this event, and for the commission to approve the rule filing.

Readers: What do you think the SEC should do?