Grygo is the chief content officer for FTF & FTF News.
December has always been full of surprises — good and bad — and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the exchanges company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, has announced a slew of executive surprises this week for NYSE and ICE.
In a press release and an accompanying letter from Jeff Sprecher, founder, chairman, and CEO of ICE, the company announced a long list of leadership changes for 2022.
For starters, Lynn Martin, the current president of ICE Fixed Income and Data Services, has been tapped to be the next president of the NYSE, meaning that she will replace incumbent Stacey Cunningham.
Stacey Cunningham
Cunningham will move on to a position on the NYSE board of directors, Sprecher says. Cunningham has been president of NYSE for more than three years and was the first woman in that position.
“Nine years ago this month, ICE announced its $8.2 billion acquisition of NYSE Euronext, a move that put our relatively obscure company on the map. One week before that news broke, Stacey Cunningham joined the NYSE. She was new to our team, but not new to the building, having spent the early years of her career on the NYSE Trading Floor,” Sprecher says in his letter.
“As the NYSE’s chief operating officer and, since 2018, its 67th president, Stacey oversaw a complete technology overhaul of the exchange, delivered innovations in our capital markets with the advent of the NYSE Direct Listing, and expanded ESG efforts across NYSE and its broader community,” according to Sprecher. “Stacey led the NYSE through an extraordinary era that saw its technology prove resilient and its trading systems thrive in even the most turbulent times.”
Lynn Martin
Martin, the next NYSE president, will be working with a team of executives that includes Michael Blaugrund, chief operating officer (COO) and John Tuttle, vice chairman and chief commercial officer for NYSE.
“While Lynn assumes her new role at 11 Wall Street, she will continue to serve as chair of ICE Fixed Income and Data Services to help guide that business as Amanda Hindlian, currently the global head of capital markets at the NYSE, becomes its new president,” Sprecher says.
“The global business that Amanda will now lead includes our evaluated pricing business, which prices nearly three million securities daily, and our rapidly growing index business. As this business continues to expand, Mark Heckert, the chief product officer of ICE Fixed Income and Data Services, will add leadership of the index and desktop areas of the segment as he broadens his duties,” Sprecher adds.
Sharon Bowen during her time on the CFTC.
Speaking of the NYSE board, Sharon Bowen, already an ICE and NYSE board member, will take on the top post of NYSE board chair. Bowen, who is well known for her expertise as a finance and securities lawyer, previously served as a commissioner with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Bowen is the first black woman to be appointed to board chair.
Hope Jarkowski, the former co-head of government relations at ICE and head of equities at NYSE, will take on the role of NYSE general counsel, Sprecher says. Jarkowski will replace Elizabeth King who will shot to ICE’s Chief Regulatory Officer (CRO), reporting Sprecher.
King will also run the Board Advisory Council for NYSE, “which works with the CEOs of NYSE-listed firms to identify diverse candidates for boards of directors of venture-funded and newly public companies,” Sprecher says.
In the post-trade services arena, Chris Edmonds, who oversees ICE’s clearing businesses, will add to his responsibilities the post of chief development officer for ICE, which encompasses ICE’s marketing and communications.
In addition, Mark Wassersug, COO for ICE, “will transition to a new role as the company’s chief information officer … working closely with Mayur Kapani, ICE’s chief technology officer,” Sprecher says. “As Mark moves into this position, Stuart Williams will succeed him as chief operating officer of ICE, reporting to ICE President Ben Jackson. Stuart, who is currently president of ICE Futures Europe, will remain in that post until a successor is identified and in place.”
Sprecher says that this major overhaul is necessary for ICE to develop a new generation of leaders.
“I’m not going anywhere, but for many years, we’ve been working to develop the next generation of ICE leaders who’ll bring energy and experience to drive our success in the future. Challenging this group of global leaders with new or expanded roles is fundamental to good governance and stewardship of our firm,” Sprecher says in his letter.
The full letter can be found here: https://bit.ly/31LKkdu
Need a Reprint?