The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has announced that Stacey Cunningham will step down as its president on Jan. 3, 2022. She will be replaced by Lynn Martin, president of the fixed income and data services businesses at the Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE), the corporate parent of the NYSE. Cunningham will join the board of directors of the NYSE.
Cunningham has served as NYSE president since 2018 and has spent a total of nine years with the organization. In a related development, Jefffrey Sprecher has announced that he will exit his position as NYSE chairman, to be replaced by Sharon Bowen, a former federal securities regulator. Sprecher is the founder, chairman, and CEO of the ICE.
Key Takeaways
- The president and chairman of the NYSE are stepping down.
- The NYSE has been trailing NASDAQ in the value of IPOs, and its share of stock trades has been falling.
- Lynn Martin, who heads fixed income and data services for Intercontinental Exchange, the NYSE’s parent, will take over as NYSE president on Jan. 3, 2022.
- Sharon Bowen, a former federal securities regulator, will be the new NYSE chair.
Possible Motivation
The announcement about Cunningham came just hours after a report indicated that the NYSE has trailed the NASDAQ for the third consecutive year regarding initial public offerings (IPOs). IPOs listed on NASDAQ have raised $191 billion so far in 2021, while those listed on the NYSE have raised $109 billion, according to Dealogic. Additionally, the share of U.S. stock trades executed on the NYSE has fallen to 19% in 2021 from 24% in 2019.
A press release from Jeffrey Sprecher also detailed other management changes. It did not address the performance issues mentioned above. Instead, he wrote, in part: “And as times change, ICE is changing along with it … As organizations everywhere adjust to a world transformed by the pandemic, our management team is evolving along with the market environment. I’m not going anywhere, but for many years, we’ve been working to develop the next generation of ICE leaders who’ll bring energy and experience to drive our success in the future. Challenging this group of global leaders with new or expanded roles is fundamental to good governance and stewardship of our firm.”
About Lynn Martin
Lynn Martin is president of Fixed Income & Data Services at the ICE, managing its global data and fixed income businesses, including the ICE Bonds execution venues, pricing and analytics, reference data, indices, desktop solutions, consolidated feeds, and connectivity services that cover all major asset classes. Prior to that, she has held a variety of other positions at ICE and the NYSE.
Martin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Manhattan College and a Master of Arts in Statistics from Columbia University. Martin began her career at International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), mainly as a project manager in the financial services practice.
About Sharon Bowen
Sharon Bowen has been a member of the board of directors of ICE since December 2017. She has more than 35 years of experience in regulation, securities, and public policy. From 2014 to 2017, she was commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), during which time she was a sponsor of the CFTC Market Risk Advisory Committee. Prior to that, Bowen was vice chair of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) from 2010 to 2012, becoming acting chair in 2012.
Bowen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Virginia, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a Juris Doctor (JD) from the Pritzker School of Law at Northwestern University. Prior to joining the CFTC in 2014, she was a partner in the New York office of law firm Latham & Watkins LLP.
