NYSE Cuts Jobs at Chicago Exchange, CEO John Kerin Departs

(Bloomberg) -- The owner of the New York Stock Exchange fired about a dozen employees at the Chicago Stock Exchange after acquiring the business earlier this month, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Chief Executive Officer John Kerin also left the Intercontinental Exchange Inc. division, according to the person, who asked to not be named discussing personnel matters. Kerin, in a telephone interview, said he was treated fairly by the new owners and his last day was July 27.

“I wish the ICE and the New York Stock Exchange and the employees that remain the very best,” Kerin said in a telephone interview. Kristen Kaus, an ICE spokeswoman, declined to comment.

The Chicago exchange had tried to sell itself to investors led by a Chinese conglomerate in a deal that was rejected by U.S. regulators earlier this year. ICE, the Atlanta-based owner of the New York Stock Exchange, bought the market because “it gives us an opportunity to have a presence in Chicago,” Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Sprecher said in a Bloomberg Television interview in April.

The Chicago exchange handles less than 1 percent of U.S. equity trading. More than a fifth of overall volume takes place on the five NYSE exchanges.

To contact the reporters on this story: Brian Louis in Chicago at blouis1@bloomberg.net;Nick Baker in Chicago at nbaker7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Dan Reichl, Josh Friedman

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