London Stock Exchange bolsters top team with deputy chief for reform offensive
The London Stock Exchange has promoted its head of primary markets to deputy chief executive today as it looks to push ahead with a reform offensive this year.
Charlie Walker, who has been with the bourse for six years, will continue to oversee the group’s private markets business and will now join the board of the stock exchange, the firm announced today.
Walker has played a key role in reforming the bourse amid a bruising year in which initial public offerings have fallen sharply.
Chief executive Julia Hoggett said today that Walker had a “passion for ensuring that our markets provide companies with efficient access to capital across their lifecycle”.
“I look forward to delivering on our plans to enhance our financial ecosystem and the global competitiveness of the UK capital markets,” she added.
Walker joined the wider London Stock Exchange Group in 2018 after a stint with JP Morgan Cazenove’s equity capital markets team, where he helped raise over £45bn of equity capital for clients.
His appointment comes as the London Stock Exchange presses ahead with a major reform agenda amid fears it is losing ground to international peers.
The bourse has been dealt a series of bruising blows from firms lamenting the investor base and conservatism of the capital’s equity markets over the past year.
In an interview with City A.M. last week, Julia Hoggett said the bourse would now “fight” for every listing it had a case for.