London Stock Exchange chief executive steps down immediately


              FILE- In this Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013 file photo, CEO of London Stock Exchange Group Xavier Rolet attends with the then Mayor of London Boris Johnson, not pictured, as he ceremonially starts the trading day of the exchange in London. The London Stock Exchange said on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, its CEO is stepping down with immediate effect after eight and a half years at the helm. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
FILE- In this Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013 file photo, CEO of London Stock Exchange Group Xavier Rolet attends with the then Mayor of London Boris Johnson, not pictured, as he ceremonially starts the trading day of the exchange in London. The London Stock Exchange said on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, its CEO is stepping down with immediate effect after eight and a half years at the helm. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

LONDON (AP) - The London Stock Exchange says its CEO is stepping down with immediate effect after eight and a half years at the helm.

Xavier Rolet had been due to leave at the end of 2018, but the company said in a statement Wednesday that he is stepping down immediately instead. He will be replaced on an interim basis by the chief financial officer, David Warren, until a successor is found.

Chairman Donald Brydon, meanwhile, will not stand for re-election at the shareholders' meeting in 2019, as the company seeks to renew its leadership after a difficult year in which a planned merger with Germany's Deutsche Boerse failed. The deal was blocked in March by European Union regulators on the grounds that it would create a monopoly in some markets.

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