--Nasdaq OMX chairman says company 'stronger' under CEO Greifeld
--Nasdaq board of directors met after glitches hit Facebook IPO
--Greifeld says listings business remains sound
(Updates throughout to add comments from chairman, additional background on Facebook IPO, share price)
The chairman of Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. NDAQ -1.01% expressed support for the exchange group's chief executive Tuesday, days after Nasdaq OMX's mishandling of the Facebook Inc. FB -4.73% share offering Friday sparked confusion and anger across Wall Street.
Nasdaq OMX's board met a day after the Facebook debacle to discuss the fallout. Chief Executive Bob Greifeld told reporters Sunday that he hoped his position was secure following the high-profile episode.
"This is a far stronger and better company than when [Greifeld] started," said H. Furlong Baldwin, chairman of Nasdaq OMX's board, addressing shareholders at the company's annual meeting Tuesday.
In earlier remarks to shareowners, Greifeld acknowledged "mistakes" made by the exchange in its handling of the Facebook IPO. He reminded investors that the deal was the largest ever in terms of valuation at the time of an IPO and that the opening trade in Facebook's stock was the largest Nasdaq OMX had ever managed.
After initial delays in the opening of the stock Friday, a flood of canceled orders for the stock and changes to pre-existing trades interfered with Nasdaq OMX's process of matching up buy and sell orders to form the first trade, executives said.
It took staff approximately 20 minutes to resolve the matter and open the stock, during which time millions of shares worth of trades fell into limbo. Brokers and traders didn't learn the results of trades made in Facebook shares until nearly two and a half hours later, and some individual investors remained uncertain of their position in the social network's stock Monday.
Nasdaq OMX on Monday tapped the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to sort through requests from brokers seeking for the exchange to make up losses taken on Facebook trades, a process that could take weeks.
Greifeld said Tuesday that the New York exchange company's competitive positioning to land new stock listings "has never been stronger" despite the Facebook glitches. He highlighted Monday's announcement that Western Digital Corp. (WDC) planned to move its listing to Nasdaq OMX from the New York Stock Exchange in June.
Shares in Nasdaq OMX recently were up 4 cents at $22.82.
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