New CEO For New Zealand Stock Exchange

23 April 2002

The New Zealand Stock Exchange has appointed Mark Weldon as its new Chief Executive Officer.

A New Zealander, Mr Weldon (34) has spent the past nine years in New York, where he is currently Senior Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company as senior adviser to CEOs, CFOs and business heads of several large public and private organisations.

He was previously an attorney with a leading New York law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. He completed his Doctorate in Jurisprudence at the Columbia University School of Law, New York, in 1997, following a Masters degree (1st Class Honours) in Economics and Bachelor degrees in Commerce and Arts from the University of Auckland.

Mr Weldon has expertise in stock exchange strategy and market structure, institutional sales, trading and asset management, corporate strategy, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and securities, corporate and international law.

Chairman of the New Zealand Stock Exchange, Simon Allen, said Mr Weldon was an outstanding New Zealander who will lead the Exchange through a significant period of advancement.

“The New Zealand Stock Exchange has achieved outstanding operational efficiencies,” said Mr Allen. “This coming period will see strategic initiatives designed to grow a vibrant capital market that is essential for the growth of the New Zealand economy.”

Recent new appointments to the Board of the Stock Exchange, and programmes to demutualise and review the rules and regulations of the Exchange, were examples of the initiatives being taken to enhance New Zealand capital markets.

Mr Weldon said that he was delighted to accept a leadership role in the New Zealand capital markets. “I am very positive about New Zealand’s attributes as a country in a long term global scenario. Our equity and debt markets need to be dynamic contributors to both the domestic and international growth of New Zealand.

“I am returning to New Zealand feeling I have had the best experience in the world, and I am ready to apply these skills in the evolving New Zealand market.”

Mr Weldon is an Olympic swimmer, having competed for New Zealand at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games.

He will commence his position in Wellington on June 4

Ends

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