The New York Stock Exchange is a hectic place with harried traders constantly following the electronic tickers that scream the stories of the day.
On Tuesday, the 220-year-old financial institution was itself the day’s news, and Duncan Niederauer ’81 was in the middle of it.
The stock exchange’s parent company — NYSE Euronext — announced that it plans to merge with Deutsche Boerse, owner of Germany’s biggest exchange. The deal would create the world’s biggest trading group, if it wins regulatory approvals.
Niederauer, 51, has been chief executive officer of NYSE Euronext since 2007. Under the merger, he would become chief executive of the new company, according to news reports.
The former Colgate trustee was interviewed throughout the day about implications of the deal.
“I think today’s announcement represents the next step in this journey for both of us, which will now be a shared one, to reinvent the industry and redefine what it means to be an exchange in the 21st century — which is what we tell our people here all the time,” he told NPR Radio.
The new entity would have headquarters in both Frankfurt and New York. What the new company might be called has already become a contentious issue.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said New York ought to come first in the new name.
“NYSE is one of the most preeminent brands in the financial industry, and there is no reason it shouldn’t come first in the new exchange’s name,” he said in a statement.
Niederauer said at Tuesday’s news conference there has not been any decision about a new name.
Before moving to NYSE, Niederauer was managing director and co-head of Equities Execution Services for Goldman Sachs.
His career at Goldman Sachs spanned 22 years and included other positions such as overseeing Japanese products and the Equities Division e-commerce efforts, according to his online biography. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1985, four years after graduating from Colgate.
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