Firstly, Carl Daucher, Head of Strategy and Finance, will be leaving NZX prior to his wedding in the U.S. in July 2006. Carl has been with us for four years and the key aspects of his focus during this time have been the capital market infrastructure and connectivity strategy. The strategy is largely complete, and has now moved into the execution phase. Carl has done a tremendous job and has had real impact at NZX and in the broader New Zealand capital markets area.
For NZX there are two important areas to continue the execution momentum. In the market infrastructure area, where Carl has developed the strategy, we have signed a world class expert in execution, Stuart Turner, to join the NZX team. Stuart was the Head of Market Operations for the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) and recently set up the DIFX Clearing, Custody, and Settlement system. Prior to that, he was the Head of IT at the UK Power Exchange Limited, and began his exchange technology career at OM Group, an exchange company from Sweden. He is a world expert in this area and is extremely excited about the challenges and opportunities to grow the productivity of our capital market clearing and settlement infrastructure.
The second area is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) role. There is a great opportunity for someone with different skills to Carl to drive real value out of execution. We will focus on someone who has experience of commercial execution of corporate strategy, advanced capital markets knowledge, a history of accomplishment, and a high degree of future growth potential. This is a key role for NZX and the markets, and one that we will get exactly right.
Mark WeldonChief Executive Officer
New Zealand Exchange Limited
