MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX) has appointed Thomas Mathew T, a former chairman of LIC, as Chairman of the exchange. Mathew will replace GK Pillai, former Home Secretary, who resigned on Thursday.
The board of directors, which met here on Friday, also cleared the appointment of Ashima Goyal, Professor at Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, as Vice-Chairperson.
There were unconfirmed reports that several board members were likely to resign and that the exchange has called for an emergency meeting after the CBI crackdown on Thursday. The CBI is investigating the process followed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India to grant MCX-SX a licence.
Dismissing this as speculative, Saurabh Sarkar, Managing Director of the exchange, said the board meeting was planned a month in advance.
Pillai played a key role in ring-fencing the exchange at a critical juncture and helped bring stability to the exchange, he said. “All other directors continue to be on the board and we look forward to guidance from Mathew and Goyal,” he added.
Challenging time “I took charge of the exchange at a time when it had several challenges. However, in the last few months we have brought in some stability. The rights issue is on track and we have received confirmation from several shareholders on participation,” said Pillai, the outgoing chairman. “We have also been successful in rationalising costs, which will improve our balance sheet in the times to come. I am stepping down due to personal reasons,” he added.
Top of agenda Mathew has listed plans to increase operational efficiency, market participation and volumes on the exchange as his top priority.
“We are confident that the policy reforms for the currency derivatives segment will give the desired boost to volumes, resulting in a turnaround in the balance sheet. In addition to this, launching new products will give the exchange the much-needed differentiation,” he said.
Earlier, the exchange reclassified its promoters, Financial Technologies and Multi Commodity Exchange, as public shareholders. This was done to distance the stock exchange from the ₹5,600-crore settlement default faced by its group company, National Spot Exchange Ltd.