Antoinette Huniker-Ebneter is to relinquish her roles as head of SWX Swiss Exchange and CEO of screen-based stock market operator virt-X at the end of the month.
Huniker-Ebneter is being replaced at SWX by her deputy Jurg Spillman, and at virt-X by SWX veteran and virt-X director of operations Peter Keller.
Huniker-Ebneter's resignation ends a nine-year spell at SWX. Appointed chairman in December 2000 she led the exchange into a merger with London's virt-X, with a promise to capture ten per cent of European blue chip share trading in its first year of operation.
Instead, Virt-x notched up an average market share of 9.2% of the DJ Stoxx 600 during its final fiscal quarter. Virt-x's failure to break the ten per cent barrier disappointed its shareholders, especially as the company started life with a seven per cent headstart in blue chip shares courtesy of co-founder SWX.