The Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX) has instituted sweeping reductions in staff salaries as it bids to preserve cash and keep the business afloat in the "current difficult economic climate".
Effective 1 March, all 96 employees have had their pay cut from between 9.5% and 16.5%, with the highest earners facing the biggest reductions. The board of directors has also taken "considerable" reductions in compensation.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the salary of CEO David Herron will fall from $470,000 to $405,375.
The exchange says the move - which is expected to save around $1.2 million a year - is part of its response to the financial services crisis.
In January the Tribune revealed that a dissident shareholder group had written to CHX asking it to cut salaries or risk running out of cash by the middle of the year. The bourse made a loss of $8.12 million for the first nine months of 2008, says the paper.
In a statement responding to the Tribune, Herron insisted the exchange has enough funds to see it through the year.
Last March CHX hired Financial Technology Partners to help it explore possible "financial and strategic alternatives" but no buyers have yet emerged.