Knight Capital CEO Thomas Joyce says the Jersey City brokerage's new owners aren't pushing for change after a $440 million trading glitch nearly capsized the company.Knight Capital Group Inc.’s new directors aren’t pushing for changes at the company after trading losses sent it to the brink of bankruptcy last month, according to Chief Executive Officer Thomas Joyce.
“Our firm was really healthy on July 31st,” Joyce said in an interview today on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers” with Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle. “We made a mistake. We suggested some changes like volume circuit breakers. We don’t think much else needs to be done.”
He spoke one day after the company said it reassigned the executive in charge of its technology. Steven Sadoff, who oversaw operations and technology at the firm, was moved to a role building Knight’s clearing, prime brokerage and futures businesses. Chief Financial Officer Steven Bisgay was named to the added post of chief operating officer.
A software error caused Knight to bombard equity exchanges with unintended orders just after trading began on Aug. 1, causing volume to surge and prices to swing in dozens of securities. The Jersey City, New Jersey-based firm was taken over by six Wall Street firms including Jefferies Group Inc. and Blackstone Group LP after losses associated with the software error depleted its capital.
The investors, who paid $400 million for securities convertible into more than 70 percent of Knight’s equity, are represented by three new Knight directors.
Any changes at Knight will be decided in cooperation with the board when the firm discusses strategy later in the year, Joyce said today. Implementing volume circuit breakers is a step that could help prevent future trading losses spurred by computer errors, he said.