NZX announces the resignation of John McMahon from its Board effective 31 December 2021, and the appointment of Peter Jessup as a director from 1 January 2022.
Mr McMahon has served as a director of NZX since June 2019 and has contributed significantly in the areas of technology and secondary market development. Mr McMahon has served as a member of the Audit and Risk, Human Resources and Remuneration, Clearing and Technology Committees, and also as a director of NZX’s subsidiary, NZX Wealth Technologies Limited.
Mr McMahon’s decision to step down from the Board reflects a desire to balance his workload and focus on his other directorships across the listed market in New Zealand.
NZX Chair James Miller commented: “John has made a superb contribution to NZX during his time on the Board – particularly in applying his strong skills in the area of technology and his extensive experience and connections across New Zealand and Australia’s capital markets. On behalf of NZX and New Zealand’s capital markets we would like to thank John for his contribution.”
Mr Miller said the NZX Board was delighted to announce the appointment of Peter Jessup as a director to replace Mr McMahon.
“This appointment reflects technology as a critical priority area in NZX’s skills matrix and the need for high quality, specialist expertise to underpin the governance supporting the resilience and stability, and further evolution of NZX’s technology framework.
“As we thank John for his contribution to our Board and Technology subcommittee, it’s great to have an incoming director with preeminent global expertise in a highly specialised and technical part of the market. Peter’s broad range of skills is second-to-none – especially when paired with his deep understanding of stock exchanges. It is extremely valuable to us that he will be applying those skills and deep knowledge back to NZX and for the benefit of the future of New Zealand’s capital markets.”
Mr Jessup was appointed to the NZX Technology Committee in April 202, bringing more than 35 years’ IT experience – predominantly in stock exchange and related areas, including trading and post-trade systems. Prior to establishing an independent consultancy in 2018, he was Senior Vice President at Nasdaq’s Global Technology Services group, leading an international team of software product engineers and support personnel of over 250 across four geographical locations.
In his 23-year tenure at Nasdaq, Mr Jessup oversaw the development of several products including the X-stream trading platform, which became the fastest matching system in the world. He previously (over 20 years ago) worked for NZSE (New Zealand Stock Exchange) where he played an instrumental role in the design and development of the FASTER DvP Settlement platform and the implementation of automated trading technology to replace open outcry (verbal bidding).
Mr Jessup’s appointment is effective 01 January 2022. Mr Jessup will join NZX’s Audit and Risk Committee and remain a member of the Technology Committee taking the role of Chair of that committee.
As required by Listing Rule 2.6.2 the Board has determined that Peter is an independent director.
