[ by Howard Haykin ] The Nasdaq OMX Group announced plans to book reserves to settle disputes by investors over issues caused by technical glitches in Facebook’s initial public offering.  Under terms of the plan, Nasdaq will make the money  - as much as $40 million - available to its member firms, rather than investors directly.  Nearly $14 million will be paid in cash, pending an SEC review, while the remainder will be credited to member firms to reduce trading costs. Errors in Nasdaq’s systems on 5/18/12, Facebook's debut, first led to delays in setting an opening price for the social networking giant, and then prevented some traders from knowing for hours whether their orders had been confirmed. For days afterward, investors claimed that they still didn’t know how many Facebook shares they held, while others argued that the technical problems left them holding stock that had quickly plummeted in value on Friday and days afterward. Nasdaq claims its technical errors had ended by 1:50 p.m. ET on that Friday trading session, and that it wasn’t responsible for the company’s stock slide past that.  Many investors and people involved in the IPO process nevertheless claim that Nasdaq's errors spooked investors and created a climate of fear that inhibited trading. To qualify for Nasdaq’s plan ... members must prove they were directly harmed by the glitches that erupted before trading started at 11:30 a.m. on the first day of trading.  This Nasdaq offering applies only to certain kinds of trades - including sale orders priced at $42 or less that did not execute or were carried out at lower prices, and purchases that were priced at $42 but were not immediately confirmed. FINRA will evaluate claims that are submitted. Nasdaq also said it had hired I.B.M. to analyze its computer systems in the wake of the Facebook glitches.   [Dealbook, 6/6/12]