Now we know for sure who would head the Toronto-based global listings business of a merged TMX Group and London Stock Exchange Group Plc.
Xavier Rolet, the LSE chief executive and the man who would head the merged company, confirmed at public hearings into the combination Wednesday that the job of running global listings will go to Kevan Cowan, currently the head of the TMX's stock markets business.
"This means that the global effort to attract listings, oversee them, operate the various listing venues in the group and serve listed issuers will be centered here in Toronto and led by a Canadian resident -- who's sitting right behind me," Mr. Rolet said, referring to Mr. Cowan, who was in the first row of the audience at the Ontario government's hearings into the proposed transaction.
Should the deal go ahead, it's a big job for Mr. Cowan as the merged company would have the most listings of any exchange operator in the world.
Mr. Cowan started his career as a corporate finance lawyer, and got into the markets business in 1997 when he became general counsel to an over-the-counter market that was once owned by what's now TMX Group.
He rose through the ranks to head the TSX Venture Exchange, the small-cap market owned by TMX Group Inc., while also running business development for the Toronto Stock Exchange He was promoted to group head of equities at the company in 2008.