Xavier Rolet has agreed to step down as CEO of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) with immediate effect, at the request of the Group’s board.
The Board has asked David Warren, CFO, to assume the additional role of Interim CEO until a successor is appointed. Warren has served as CFO of LSEG for the past five years, and is an integral leader of the team that has successfully executed the Company’s strategy during this period, including strategic acquisitions. Prior to joining LSEG, Warren spent nine years as CFO of NASDAQ.
Donald Brydon has indicated that he will not stand for re-election at the annual general meeting of LSEG in 2019, as he and the Board believe that at that point it would be in shareholders’ interests to have a new team at the helm to steer the future progress of the Company.
On 19 October 2017, LSEG announced that the Board was initiating a transition process to find a successor to the Company’s CEO, Xavier Rolet, who would leave by the end of December 2018. The Board believed, and continues to believe, this was in the best interests of the Company.
On 9 November 2017, The Children’s Investment Master Fund (TCI), a shareholder in LSEG, sent a requisition for a general meeting and proposed two resolutions related to the continued tenure of Donald Brydon as Chairman and Xavier Rolet as CEO. In light of this announcement, the Company has asked TCI to withdraw its requisition. If TCI does not withdraw its requisition in full, the Board intends to publish a shareholder circular confirming among other things the date of the general meeting at which the proposed resolution or resolutions will be put. The circular would be published no later than 30 November 2017.
The FCA and the Bank of England were kept informed from late September 2017 on the succession planning process, and have also been kept up to date in the period leading up to the publication of this announcement.
Brydon says: “The Board is confident LSEG will continue to prosper with David Warren as Interim CEO and the existing strong management team. They have deep knowledge of LSEG’s business and helped shape, lead and execute its strategies. They are already working towards LSEG’s current three year financial targets. I look forward to working with David and his team. We acknowledge, as I said last month, Xavier’s immense – indeed transformative – contribution to the business.”
Rolet says: “Since the announcement of my future departure on 19 October, there has been a great deal of unwelcome publicity, which has not been helpful to the Company. At the request of the Board, I have agreed to step down as CEO with immediate effect. I will not be returning to the office of CEO or director under any circumstances. I am proud of what we have achieved during the past eight and a half years.”
