London Stock Exchange boss wins vote to keep job

LONDON: London Stock Exchange chairman Donald Brydon won shareholder backing to keep his job after an activist investor demanded his removal following the contested departure of chief executive Xavier Rolet.

Shareholders of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) voted 79 per cent in favour of Brydon staying on.

“The board and I welcome the stability that this gives the group,” Brydon said in a statement.

“The recruitment process for a new CEO is under way and we will update our shareholders in due course.”

The vote came after The Children’s Investment Master Fund ( TCI) demanded Brydon leave his post, accusing the chairman of having a role in Rolet’s recent departure.

Rolet stepped down last month, bringing forward a planned departure after blaming “unwelcome publicity” amid talk that he had been forced to quit.

Around the same time last month, Brydon said he would not put himself forward in 2019 for re-election as chairman.

But TCI deemed this insufficient and demanded Brydon step down immediately, leading to Tuesday’s extraordinary general meeting and shareholder vote.

Qatar, the largest investor in the LSEG along with US asset manager BlackRock, had thrown its support behind Brydon before the meeting.

A source close to the Qatar Investment Authority sovereign fund had told AFP it would support Brydon out of fear that losing both a chief executive and chairman so close together could destabilise the LSEG, which also owns the Milan stock exchange.

Qatar and BlackRock each hold about 10 per cent of LSEG, while TCI has a five per cent stake.

Immediately after Tuesday’s meeting, Brydon asked to see TCI co- founder Christopher Hohn, leader of the movement against him, in a conciliatory letter seen by AFP.

Hohn responded with a letter sent to the LSEG board, also seen by AFP, which emphasised that a search to replace Brydon should begin ‘immediately’.

He claims the LSEG is now legally required to seek feedback from shareholders, given that more than 20 per cent of votes were cast against the board’s recommendation.

The LSEG board had backed Brydon unanimously in a letter last month, in which it expressed a “strong preference” for his “invaluable skills and experience”. — AFP