Peter Randall is to step down as chief executive of multilateral trading facility Chi-X Europe.
Fifty-three-year old Randall has been the public face of the business since its inception in 2005 and formal launch in 2007 and has been credited with much of its success in stealing market share away from incumbent national stock exchanges across Europe.
News of his departure coincides with a recent shift in the ownership structure of Chi-X to accommodate new stakeholders alongside Nomura-owned Instinet.
However, insiders say that Randall is stepping down for personal family reasons and that a succession plan is already in place.
A new chief is expected to be appointed "within weeks", and Randall will remain available for consultation in an advisory role.
Randall will be a tough act to follows, but the market is not short of experienced candidates, including Alasdair Haynes, the former CEO of Investment Technology Group who was recently sized up as a potential successor to Clara Furse at the London Stock Exchange, SWX Europe chief Lee Hodgkinson who is quitting the Swiss-based SIX Group at the end of April to 'pursue a new challenge', or Richard Evans, the former head of electronic trading at Citigroup who was made redundant in November last year.