Nasdaq OMX Groups Eric Noll, who oversaw the exchanges U.S. trading business during a glitch-prone reign, has left to join ConvergEx Group as president effective immediately.
According to a ConvergEx press statement, Noll will “transition to the additional position of Chief Executive Officer at year-end, succeeding current CEO, Joseph M. Velli, who will continue to serve on the ConvergEx Group board.”
Noll served as executive vice president of U.S. and U.K. transaction services for Nasdaq, which he joined in 2009. During his tenure, Nasdaq experience a number of high-profile trading outages that included the mis-handlede Facebook IPO in 2011 when Nasdaq could not fulfill orders for the trading debut of the social media giant. Nasdaq eventually had to pay a $10 million penalty for the trading outage — a record fine for any exchange, according to media reports — and tens of millions of dollars to investment firms that lost money on that day.
Nasdaq also suffered a complete trading outage last August when it was unable to trade for more than three hours, which had an impact on thousands of investment firms.
Bloomberg reports that “Noll joined New York-based Nasdaq four years ago from Susquehanna International Group LLP, and the companys share price has about doubled since then, twice the gain in the Bloomberg World Exchanges Index of 26 bourse operators.”
Nolls departure was reported initally by Fox Business Network.
Noll to Transition to CEO by Year-End, Succeeding Joseph Velli
We are very pleased to have attracted someone of Erics high caliber to become President and CEO-elect of ConvergEx, and the board and I look forward to working closely with him to effect a smooth transition of leadership, said Joseph M. Velli, ConvergEx Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Eric is a proven, highly respected executive with strong leadership skills, outstanding judgment and targeted experience within the global securities industry that will provide immediate benefits to our company and our customers.
Noll expressed his gratuitude in his new position in a company press statement. “ConvergEx is a strong company with a bright future, and I am deeply honored to become part of this organization. One of my top priorities will be to demonstrate to our customers that we are a company that stands for strong values, transparency and, above all, putting customers interests first,” he said.
Noll added, “I look forward to working with the companys board, its talented management team, and their more than 600 employees as we continue to serve the best interests of our customers worldwide.
On behalf of the board, I also want to express our deep appreciation to Joe Velli for his untiring leadership, commitment and passion to ConvergEx over the years, Noll concluded in the press statement.
Eric Noll’s Extended Biography
Prior to joining ConvergEx, Mr. Noll was, from 2009 to present, Executive Vice President, Transaction Services, NASDAQ OMX, Inc. in the U.S. and U.K where he was responsible for all US/UK Equity, Options and Futures Exchanges – NASDAQ, NOM, PHLX, PSX, BX, BX Options, NFX and NLX. In this role, he helped manage and grow all relationships with broker-dealers and investors (buyside) for equities, options and futures, including technology, market structure, functionality, order types and pricing.
Among his many accomplishments at NASDAQ OMX, Mr. Noll launched NASDAQ Liquidity Exchange (NLX) in London in May of 2013 to compete with LIFFE and Eurex in European rate futures and led the re-platforming of NASDAQ Futures Exchange. He was also responsible for Espeed and the NASDAQ fixed income business as well as all access services revenue lines, including co-location, ports, memberships, cross-connects, microwave offering, pre-trade risk management, the Trade-Reporting Facility (TRF), FTEN and FinQloud. He also managed the largest revenue and profit business inside NASDAQ OMX and led the exchanges acquisitions of FTEN and Espeed.
From 1994-2009, Mr. Noll was Managing Director, with Susquehanna International Group, where he managed all external and exchange relationships and was responsible for strategic planning and new product development. He started and managed the firms institutional sales business (options and equities), institutional research business and investment banking business as well as acquired NYSE specialist operations and CBOE/PHLX options specialists.
From 1993-1994, Mr. Noll was with the Philadelphia Stock Exchange where he was Assistant Vice-President – Strategic Planning and New Product Development, and from 1990-1993, he was Manager, Strategic Planning at the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
Mr. Noll holds a Series 7, 63 and 24. He earned his Masters of Business Administration from Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, with a finance concentration. He received his A.B. from Franklin and Marshall College, with a double major in government and economics. Mr. Noll is a member of the Board of Trustees of Franklin and Marshall College where he serves as Vice Chairman, Finance Committee; Vice Chairman, Technology Committee; and a Member of its Executive Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Visitors, Owen Graduation School of Management and a member of Board of Trustees, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. He is married with two adult daughters.
