Goldman veteran to head exchange

Duncan Niederauer, named to replace John Thain as head of NYSE Euronext, is likely to follow the strategy of his former Goldman Sachs Group Inc colleague for expanding the stock exchange.

Thain answered threats to the NYSE's market share by taking it public through the acquisition of the all-electronic Archipelago Holdings Inc in 2006 and acquiring European market operator Euronext NV a year later.

Niederauer should continue automating and expanding through takeovers, said Patrick O'Shaughnessy, an analyst with Morningstar Inc in Chicago.

"The blueprint has been laid out and Niederauer is very likely to continue with that," O'Shaughnessy said.

"His experience at Goldman probably put him in tune with what Thain was thinking, so the NYSE board may be comfortable with him continuing the job Thain started."

Niederauer, 48, will take over at NYSE Euronext on December 1 when Thain becomes chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch & Co.

The former co-head of Goldman Sachs's equities division, who joined the firm in 1985, faces growing competition as computers make it easier to buy and sell stocks, bonds, currencies and derivatives.

The NYSE hired Niederauer in February with Thain's departure in mind, said Thomas Caldwell, chairman of Caldwell Securities Ltd, which owns about 5 million shares of NYSE Euronext.

In 2005, Niederauer worked with Goldman bankers on the Archipelago deal, describing himself in e-mails to colleagues as "obsessed" with the structure of US equities trading.

Richard Adamonis, a spokesman for the NYSE, said Niederauer was unavailable for an interview.

Bloomberg News

(China Daily 11/16/2007 page16)