Xavier Rolet’s replacement at the London Stock Exchange: Runners and riders

Xavier Rolet is a tough act to follow: a strong strategic hand on the tiller at one of the City’s central financial institutions.

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group role is one of a kind, with systemic importance through its derivatives clearing house LCH and trillions of pounds of investments indexed to its separate funds arm. That means the net for recruiters will be thrown wide. Here are some of possible contenders.

Mark Makepeace, group director of information services LSE

Makepeace is already a member of the LSE’s executive committee and chief executive of the FTSE Russell indexing arm. He would represent a continuity candidate, with an association with the LSE that stretches all the way back to the ‘80s “Big Bang”, before he founded FTSE International.

Blythe Masters, chief executive of Digital Asset

A former chief financial officer at JP Morgan’s investment bank, Masters is currently chief executive of Digital Asset, a blockchain firm which counts the Australian Securities Exchange among its major clients. A former chair of two major financial markets trade associations, Masters is well connected and knows her way around financial technology.

Lee Hodgkinson, chief executive, Euronext London

Euronext and the LSE have had their fair share of run-ins over the past few years. The former almost bought LCH SA from the LSE, but the collapse of the LSE merger with Deutsche Boerse put paid to that. Hodgkinson, an LSE alumnus, has spent his career working in exchanges.

Thomas Book, chief executive, Eurex Frankfurt

Eurex wants to eat the LSE’s lunch, pressuring it with a fee share with the big banks for derivatives clearing. One of the key players at the firm is Thomas Book, who is also head of derivatives markets trading for Deutsche Boerse Group.

Kay Swinburne, MEP

There are not many politicians who understand financial markets, but Swinburne can certainly lay claim to detailed knowledge. Currently a Conservative MEP, she will be out of a job after Brexit. Heavily involved in shaping European regulation, she would represent a left-field candidate.

Mark Hemsley, chief executive of CBOE Europe and Bats Europe

As the boss of a direct challenger to the LSE’s equities exchange business, Helmsley certainly knows the space. He has done stints as chief operating officer at investment bank Deutsche Bank GCI and chief investment officer at Natwest Capital Markets, while also sitting on the board of Liffe when it was bought by Euronext – from under the nose of the LSE.

David Warren, interim chief executive, London Stock Exchange

Warren has served as chief financial officer at the LSE since 2012, after a nine-year stint at Nasdaq. While he has been intimately involved in strategy with Rolet, he is also understood to be helping with the succession plans himself.

Original Article