Newly-merged market operator Nasdaq OMX has appointed Credit Suisse executive Steve Matthews as chief legal and compliance officer of its new pan-European market for blue chips.
Matthews will oversee all legal and compliance work as well as surveillance for the pan-European market which is due to launch in September, subject to approval from the UK's financial services authority (FSA).
He joins Nasdaq OMX from Credit Suisse in London where he was a senior compliance officer. He has also been a compliance officer at Citigroup where he was co-head of the core control group team in London.
Matthews also spent almost four years at the FSA, advising the treasury on the Market Abuse Directive and acting as UK representative on a Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) expert group.
Matthews joins Charlotte Crosswell on Nasdaq OMX's European team. Crosswell was named as president of the new pan-European market earlier this month. She joined from Pension Corporation, a London-based pension management firm, where she has been a partner and head of business development.
Prior to Pension, Crosswell was head of international listings for Nasdaq, responsible for non-US IPOs and managing relationships with overseas listed companies through representatives based in London, New York, Bangalore, and Beijing. She has also worked for the London Stock Exchange (LSE) as head of international business development.
Nasdaq OMX says its new European platform - which will offer share trading in the constituents of all leading European indices - will be the first to connect major European trading centres through a sophisticated routing system.
Based on the Inet ECN, the market will trade around 300 of the most active European blue chip stocks at launch and handle displayed and non-displayed orders in one composite order book. Clearing will be handled through a pan-European clearing facility and settlement will be done locally.