Rolet plans to take LSE on the offensive
THE LONDON Stock Exchange’s new chief executive Xavier Rolet yesterday said that he would consider acquisitions as part of an aggressive push to regain market share.
Rolet, who was facing analysts for the first time since taking over the role in May, said that the LSE intended to be “offensive, not defensive” in the fight against new multi-lateral trading facilities (MTFs) such as Chi-X and Turquoise.
The former Lehman Brothers banker said that his plans include adapting units from within Borsa Italiana – which the exchange acquired two years ago – to push into post-trade services and derivatives in the UK.
He highlighted potential cost-savings through introducing Borsa Italiana’s clearing house, CC&G, into the UK market, saying that the “cost of clearing UK equities is today the number one impediment to building back our market share”.
The LSE also confirmed that it had cut 133 staff, or 12 per cent of its workforce, as part of the cost-cutting exercise.
The comments came as the exchange reported that it has experienced a slump of 43 per cent in the average daily value traded in the five months to the end of August.
MTFs have been able to grow market share of UK equity trading – collectively 32 per cent in September, compared to 19 per cent a year earlier – through offering cheaper tariffs. LSE’s share dropped to 63 per cent to 78 per cent in the same period.
LSE chief financial officer Doug Webb said the group had £300m of debt facilities for potential deals, without specifying any targets.