City of London Traders Lament ‘Fate Worse Than Death’ as Screens Go Dark
A UK government bond auction descended into confusion on Wednesday after Bloomberg terminals—vital tools for investors—suffered a widespread outage.
The Debt Management Office (DMO), responsible for raising funds on behalf of the Government, was forced to extend the duration of its auction as screens across the City of London froze without warning. The disruption prompted a flurry of frustration from traders, some of whom described the outage on social media as “a fate worse than death.”
Bloomberg later confirmed a “global terminal issue” was behind the disruption.
The DMO had been attempting to sell bonds maturing in 2031 at a 4% yield, part of its efforts to raise funds for Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ spending plans. The Government is expected to raise more than £300bn from debt markets this year—one of the largest amounts on record—a task that will put investor confidence in Ms Reeves to the test.
Professional investors worldwide were left scrambling after Bloomberg terminals—essential tools for accessing financial data and executing trades—suffered a global outage on Wednesday.
While some features such as instant messaging remained partially functional, users reported severe delays across key services. The disruption, affecting the £21,000-a-year terminals, forced traders to revert to more old-fashioned means of communication.
One exasperated trader posted on social media: “Bloomberg not working, so salespeople are actually trying to talk to me. Please IT gods, save us.”
Bloomberg’s support desk confirmed the widespread issue, stating: “We’re currently experiencing a global terminal issue, and our engineering team is actively working to identify and resolve the problem. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and truly appreciate your patience and understanding.”
The outage triggered immediate speculation over a possible cyber attack. Hedge fund manager Pierre Andurand questioned on X (formerly Twitter): “Bloomberg has been down for over 20 minutes … cyber attack?”
Concerns were amplified by a recent wave of cyber incidents targeting British businesses. Retail giants including Co-op, Harrods, and Marks & Spencer have all been hit. M&S warned on Wednesday that a cyber attack could cost it up to £300m in lost profits, with ongoing disruption to its online operations expected to continue for months.
