The London Stock Exchange has finalised membership of the Exchange Markets Group (EMG), a new consultative forum for shareholders set up in the wake of the failed OM bid and the collapse of its proposed merger with Germany's Deutsche Borse.
Chaired by Don Cruickshank, the EMG consists of practitioners drawn from across the range of the Exchange's markets and has been constituted as a source of independent advice for the Board. It includes representatives from retail brokers, investment banking groups, corporate advisers and investing institutions (see full list below). The Group was established in response to shareholder anger at the botched handling of the LSE's failed merger with Deutsche Borse.
LSE chairman Cruickshank comments: 'The EMG will provide independent input to the board that will play a vital part in ensuring that our strategy for the future is well-informed and focused on the needs of our customers. The EMG is the focal point of our consultation process and I am most grateful that this broad cross-section of market participants has agreed to contribute to our strategic planning in this way."
Meeting at least six times a year, the EMG will be supported by a number of new and existing consultative groups that will provide input from diverse sections of the market, says the LSE. Its first meeting will be early in the New Year.
"Starting early in the New Year, we shall also be publishing quarterly updates," promises Cruickshank. "Informing our shareholders and customers of our progress on initiatives such as the development of techMARK and AIM as international markets, improvements to our trading systems and other projects that we have outlined during the last few months.
The LSE has not indicated whether the EMG will be consulted on the appointment of a new chief executive, an urgent priority for the Exchange following Gavin Casey's resignation at the height of the Deutsche Borse travails.
Exchange Markets Group
Chairman, Don Cruickshank
Graham Allen, ICI Investment Management
Andrew Beeson, Beeson Gregory
Chris Broad, London Stock Exchange
Bill Brown, Friends Ivory & Sime
Colin Buchan, UBS Warburg
Andrew Chapman, ABN AMRO
Andy Crossley, Invesco Asset Management
Grey Denham, GKN plc
Jonathan Howell, London Stock Exchange
Paul Killik, Killik & Co
David King, Interior Services
Brian Larcombe, 3i Group
Jim O'Donnell, Schroder Salomon Smith Barney
Charles Peel, Peel Hunt
Jeff Plowman, T D Waterhouse
Mark Powell, Rathbone Investment Management
Chris Ring, NatWest Stockbrokers
Julian Rogers-Coltman, GNI
Paul Roy, Merrill Lynch
Alan Rubenstein, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
Hector Sants, CSFB
Iain Saville, CRESTCo
Christopher Smith, Cazenove & Co
Gary Williams, Goldman Sachs International
Tim Ward, London Stock Exchange
Martin Wheatley, London Stock Exchange
Brian Winterflood, Winterflood Securities
Alan Yarrow, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson