Listing tops NZSE head's 'to-do' list

By Deborah Hill Cone

Friday 7th June 2002

Mark Weldon

Like a good McKinsey & Co consultant, new Stock Exchange head Mark Weldon's first task will be to write a report.

Mr Weldon (34), who spent the past three years working for McKinsey in New York, said he would be taking about three months to put together a strategic plan to present to the Stock Exchange board addressing issues including the marketing structure, listing design, trading instruments and performance-based compensation.

But his initial priority was to see the process of demutualisation successfully completed, he said yesterday at the end of his first week in the job.

The proposal to demutualise was to be presented to the Stock Exchange board this month, after the final legal issues had been resolved, and it was hoped it would be enacted in July, allowing the exchange to list.

Mr Weldon admitted his appointment had held up the process by about a month.

"To be fair, a little bit of the dragging was due to me," Mr Weldon said.

Mr Weldon, took up his new job as chief executive of the exchange this week after eight years working in corporate finance in New York.

On the issue of market structure, there had been a lot of comment independently about the main board, NCM and unlisted board, Mr Weldon said.

But he was keen to look at the structure in its entirety, to ensure small companies can migrate through to the main board.

"We need to make sure they are working together harmoniously, not as antagonists," Mr Weldon said.

It was too early for him to have a view about whether the Stock Exchange should form alliances with other exchanges, following the collapse of merger talks with the Australian Stock Exchange.

"It is clearly very important for me and for the exchange to make the New Zealand market strong and relevant in a regional sense," Mr Weldon said.

Recruiting new investors was part of the plan.

"One of the issues is equities participation on the part of the New Zealand public. The exchange has to take a catalyst role and show why it is sensible to hold equities," Mr Weldon said.

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