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London exchange CEO quits
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September 15, 2000: 11:48 a.m. ET
London Stock Exchange CEO Gavin Casey resigns following merger fiasco
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Gavin Casey, the embattled chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, resigned Friday, in the wake of the botched merger with London's counterpart in Frankfurt.
Casey's position had become virtually untenable after he only squeaked through an attempt by dissident shareholders to vote him off the board Thursday. 
Disgruntled investors, already unhappy at his role in attempting to bring the London and Frankfurt exchanges under one roof, were outraged when Casey declined to offer any insight on his position, during the shareholder meeting Thursday. Chairman Don Cruikshank, who was visibly embarrassed at his colleague's refusal to answer questions, will temporarily assume the CEO role.
London decided in May to merge with Deutsche Boerse, operator of the Frankfurt exchange, after two tortuous years of talks. The deal immediately came under fire from investors and regulators on all sides, and several weeks ago Sweden's OM Gruppen launched a hostile $1.2 billion bid for the LSE. OM is the operator of the Stockholm bourse.
The LSE canceled plans to merge with Frankfurt earlier this week, to concentrate on defending itself against the OM approach, described by Cruikshank as "derisory".
London and Frankfurt, Europe's No. 1 and No. 3 stock markets, would have created a market trading shares worth $4.3 trillion. The collapse of that deal leaves London vulnerable to other predators, as well as OM. Recent reports have indicated it could receive bid offers from Nasdaq of the United States, or Euronext, the recent grouping of the Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels exchanges. Frankfurt could also return with a bid to trump OM. 
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