Yahoo Finance London Stock Exchange executive to work from New York
One of the London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s most senior executives is to work from New York, fuelling concerns that Britain is losing its attraction as a global financial hub.
The stock market has named Pascal Boillat as its new chief operating officer, a key role reporting directly to the group’s chief executive David Schwimmer.
Mr Boillat will be based in New York upon joining in July. He replaces David Shalders, who previously did the role from London.
His working arrangements will stoke concerns that London is losing ground to New York.
Wall Street and the City have historically been rivals but New York has pulled away in recent years, prompting a string of businesses to quit the FTSE in favour of the US.
CRH, Ferguson and Flutter have all shifted their listings to New York in recent years, while British chip designer Arm chose to list in the US last year despite lobbying by Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt.
The London Stock Exchange’s chief information officer Irfan Hussain and sales chief Ron Lefferts are already based in the US, while Mr Schwimmer is an American.
An LSE spokesman strongly rebutted suggestions the New York hire showed a lack of commitment to London.
They said: “LSEG [London Stock Exchange Group] is a global organisation with a clear commitment to London. In addition, our CEO and CFO are based in our London headquarters.”
New chief financial officer Michel-Alain Proch moved from Paris to London to take up his role in March. The majority of executives are still based in London.
To bolster the market, stock exchange head Julia Hoggett has said she wants to put up a large screen outside the company’s headquarters to promote success stories from the exchange.
Despite mainly being associated with the UK stock market, the LSE has become increasingly international after the 2018 takeover of data giant Refinitiv. US tech giant Microsoft is among the LSE’s top shareholders, with a 4pc stake. The two have a lucrative 10-year partnership to launch products together.
Mr Boillat joins from Commonwealth Bank of Australia and previously worked at Deutsche Bank and US mortgage company Fannie Mae.
He said: “I look forward to joining LSEG at an exciting juncture for the Group as it continues to build its position as a leading global financial markets infrastructure and data provider.”
On Boillat’s appointment, Mr Schwimmer said: “He brings a wealth of experience having held senior leadership roles in operations and technology for global financial services firms.”
