Richard Ward Appointed Chief Executive Of IPE

At a meeting on September 17 the IPE Board of Directors agreed to appoint Richard Ward as Chief Executive of the Exchange. Dr Ward has been acting Chief Executive since the beginning of August when the previous incumbent Lynton Jones left the IPE. Sir Bob Reid, Chairman of the IPE said "the Exchange has a tremendous future ahead of it full of challenge and opportunity. Richard Ward has proven himself in his previous role as head of Business Development, and as acting chief executive for the last month. The Board had no hesitation in unanimously confirming his appointment." Richard Ward joined the IPE in March 1995 and in September 1996 became Executive Vice President for Business Development. His responsibilities in this role included the marketing and development of new products, including Natural Gas futures launched in January 1997, and Fuel Oil futures launched 3 September 1999. Prior to joining the IPE, Dr Ward was head of marketing and business development for a year at Tradition Financial Services, a specialist over-the counter brokerage firm. Previously he was at British Petroleum where he was business development manager for the international oil trading business for three years.