The following article has been sent by a user at UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN via ProQuest, a Bell & Howell information service. Departure Has U.K. Exchange Looking Again For a Leader Wall Street Journal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Print Media Edition: Eastern edition New York, N.Y. Sep 18, 2000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors: By Silvia Ascarelli Pagination: A25 ISSN: 00999660 Abstract: A day after shareholders nearly voted him out of office during a tense annual meeting, Gavin Casey resigned Friday as CEO of Europe's largest bourse, creating a leadership vacuum at a critical time, with the LSE facing a hostile takeover bid from OM Gruppen AB of Sweden. The new CEO also will have to please two types of LSE shareholders with differing priorities: the smaller British stockbrokers catering mostly to individual investors, and the international giants, such as Merrill Lynch & Co. Mr. Casey drew the ire of the smaller brokers partly because he pushed for a merger with Deutsche Boerse AG to create a market called iX. In the face of strong opposition from the smaller brokers and some large ones, the LSE last week ditched the iX plan. Moreover, the job is unlikely to offer the sort of pay package that would tempt high-powered bankers or brokers. The pinstriped Mr. Casey, a devotee of horse racing and grouse hunting, earned GBP 340,000 ($475,600) in salary in the year ended March 31, plus a GBP 275,000 bonus. Mr. Casey's severence package is of a similar size, according to people familiar with the matter. Copyright Dow Jones & Company Inc Sep 18, 2000 Full Text: LONDON -- For the fourth time in a decade, the London Stock Exchange is searching for a new chief executive officer. A day after shareholders nearly voted him out of office during a tense annual meeting, Gavin Casey resigned Friday as CEO of Europe's largest bourse, creating a leadership vacuum at a critical time, with the LSE facing a hostile takeover bid from OM Gruppen AB of Sweden. Finding a successor is likely to be tricky. The job will require someone able to fathom the rapid transformation of Europe's stock exchanges from clubby institutions into profit-driven companies needing sophisticated technology and marketing skill to compete with new electronic exchanges. That transformation has led to a feverish mating dance among national bourses, aimed at creating a pan-European market and lowering trading costs. It also has opened the way for the brash bid from OM, which operates financial markets and supplies trading technology. The new CEO also will have to please two types of LSE shareholders with differing priorities: the smaller British stockbrokers catering mostly to individual investors, and the international giants, such as Merrill Lynch & Co. Mr. Casey drew the ire of the smaller brokers partly because he pushed for a merger with Deutsche Boerse AG to create a market called iX. In the face of strong opposition from the smaller brokers and some large ones, the LSE last week ditched the iX plan. Moreover, the job is unlikely to offer the sort of pay package that would tempt high-powered bankers or brokers. The pinstriped Mr. Casey, a devotee of horse racing and grouse hunting, earned GBP 340,000 ($475,600) in salary in the year ended March 31, plus a GBP 275,000 bonus. Mr. Casey's severence package is of a similar size, according to people familiar with the matter. Only a few names are being bandied about as possible successors for Mr. Casey, who took over four years ago after serving as chief operating officer of Smith New Court, a United Kingdom securities firm acquired by Merrill Lynch. Among them are Brian Williamson, who has revived the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange, and Pen Kent, a former Bank of England official. Mr. Williamson, who has indicated that he isn't interested in the job, suggested in an interview with the Sunday Times that the LSE should team up with Liffe and its technology partner, Cap Gemini, and use the same trading system. Stockbrokers said they wanted their next chief executive to have strong people skills. Mr. Casey was often criticized for what some saw as aloofness and arrogance. Andy Stewart, executive chairman of London stockbroker Collins Stewart, said the ideal candidate would be "a version of" Werner Seifert, chief executive of Deutsche Boerse, who is credited with transforming the Frankfurt exchange from a backwater into a powerful LSE rival. Mr. Viney suggested the new CEO should have international experience and not necessarily carry a British passport. "A continental European would be really good," he said. "Maybe someone who has worked in the U.S., but not an American." Until a new CEO is recruited, Mr. Casey's responsibilities will be assumed by the LSE's chairman, Don Cruickshank, along with Martin Wheatley, the exchange's director of business development, and Jonathan Howell, its finance director. With one scalp in hand, rebellious shareholders seemed content. Several said they were willing to give Mr. Cruickshank, an LSE outsider who was appointed chairman last spring, more time to prove himself in that post and fight the OM takeover bid, which so far has little support from LSE shareholders. Mr. Casey can claim credit for helping to restore the exchange to profitability. It reported a profit of GBP 33.9 million ($47.4 million) for the latest fiscal year. He also helped transform the bourse earlier this year into a company with shares traded over the counter from its former status as a firm mutually owned by members. Credit: Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. =============================== End of Document ================================