Microsoft outage drags on, forcing traders onto phones

A global Microsoft ↗ 0.36% outage that knocked out Outlook, Teams and Copilot sent traders back to phones, fax machines and WhatsApp on Friday, November 13. The outage disrupted trading desks, delayed corporate disclosures and cut email access at Japan's Ministry of Finance, Bloomberg reported via The Straits Times. The disruption started shortly before 1 p.m. ET on Thursday, November 12. More than 12 hours later, Microsoft said it had seen only "marginal success" in fixing it, according to CNN.straitstimes.com+1

Trading desks go old-school

Rita Elkazzi, head of execution sales for Australia and New Zealand at UBS Group ↘ 1.90%, had to use phones and other channels instead. "It's been a bit of a disaster, and I can't believe still not resolved," she said, adding that it meant "a lot more diligence on ensuring trade recaps, et cetera, are accurate," per The Straits Times. At CMC Markets in Singapore, sales trader Eugene Koh said "everyone was back on the phone, and our WhatsApp chats were busier than usual." Ryutaro Kimura of BNP Paribas Asset Management in Tokyo said trading itself was largely unaffected, but "confirmations backed up, creating settlement headaches for back offices."straitstimes.com

The same report said Singapore traders saw some banks unable to complete financing deals. IIFL Capital Services in India warned clients that replies to emailed queries could be delayed. Bankers at Morgan Stanley ↘ 0.76% and Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ↘ 1.43% in Hong Kong told CNN that their work had been disrupted.edition.cnn.com

Exchanges and issuers adapt

Euronext told listed companies on Friday morning to use the telephone to communicate corporate information. It said its Corporate Actions and Listing teams were "unable to receive emails," according to Reuters reporting carried by Zonebourse, and Business Post reported the same advice for the Irish market. Australia's ASX said it was aware of problems affecting Microsoft 365 email but that its own services remained available for normal operation. Workhorse Group moved its third-quarter results from November 12 to November 16 because of the outage, Reuters reported.businesspost.ie+2

A stubborn fix

Microsoft said a process on the affected servers that handles secure connections became overwhelmed and stopped them from processing requests, ABC7 reported. The company told CNN that a cybersecurity breach did not cause the outage. Downdetector logged about 200,000 user reports across Microsoft services, and Microsoft shares slipped in extended trading, per The Straits Times.abc7.com+2

The timing made it worse for markets, which were already volatile. "Outlook is the appendix of the modern financial operations world," said Calvin Yeoh of Blue Edge Advisors. Kenneth Goh of UOB Kay Hian UOB-Kay Hian Holdings Limited warned, "If the outage crosses 24 hours, then we'd be in the red zone."