London to Singapore traders struggle with business disruption due to cyber outage
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Global Cyber Outage Disrupts Trading and Financial Operations
On Friday, traders across various markets, from oil and gas to stocks and currencies, faced immense challenges due to a widespread cyber outage. The problem, which stretched from London to Singapore, impeded operations significantly, affecting numerous companies, banks, and trading sources.
London Stock Exchange and European Energy Exchange Hit
The LSEG Group, operator of the London Stock Exchange, reported that its Workspace news and data platform was hit by a "third-party global technical issue," leading to disruptions for users worldwide. Meanwhile, the European Energy Exchange revealed in an internal memo that clients using the Trayport trading platform for power and gas were encountering difficulties, citing "infrastructure issues with a third-party service provider."
Oil Majors Among Affected
Oil giants such as Shell and BP, along with the trading house Vitol, confirmed operational troubles due to the outage. Although these companies did not immediately comment on the situation, at least six trading sources from these firms acknowledged the impact. Traders reported that those who had not restarted their computers were operating normally, while others faced significant problems.
Impact on Financial Institutions
German banks were also caught in the crossfire, as disruptions affected their operations, confirmed by a spokesperson for the Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft financial industry association. In South Africa, Capitec Bank experienced significant disruptions but later restored card payments, ATM, and app services.
Broader Implications and Potential Causes
The outages had far-reaching effects beyond the financial sector. Major U.S. airlines had to order ground stops, though it was unclear if this was connected to an earlier Microsoft cloud outage. Additionally, the Australian government suggested the issue might be linked to a situation at global cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike.
Major financial institutions like JPMorgan, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, and Barclays did not provide immediate comments on the fallout from the outage. The situation remains fluid, and the extent of the disruption continues to be assessed by affected entities worldwide.
