NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - H. Carl McCall resigned Thursday as a New York Stock Exchange director after CEO Richard Grasso quit under pressure last week stemming from his retirement pay package.
McCall's announcement comes eight days after former NYSE chief Richard Grasso left amid mounting criticism of his $140 million board-approved payout, and one day after an influential group of state finance officials called for major changes at the exchange.
McCall, who served as the New York state comptroller from 1993 to 2002, said his resignation would be effective Monday, Sept. 29.
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 Carl McCall talks with CNNfn's Chris Huntington about his resignation as a lead director from the NYSE and Grasso's severance package.
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"To ensure that you -- and the NYSE -- can move forward without being encumbered by the past, I hereby tender my resignation from the board," McCall said in a letter to interim NYSE Chairman and CEO John Reed, who is scheduled to assume the post sometime next week.
He said that he spoke to Reed and SEC Chairman William Donaldson about his decision , and that both "expressed surprise."
"Neither," he said, "asked me to step down."
CaLpers Administrator Sean Harrigan, who vowed last week to find out "who filled up the trough" at the exchange, also said that he was surprised by McCall's decision.
"He was the strongest advocate for change on the NYSE board," Harrigan said, before adding, "he probably sets the right example."
A spokesman for Ken Langone, who chaired the NYSE Compensation Committee during Grasso's highest pay years, said that Langone is "not resigning from the New York Stock Exchange board," and that Langone had no comments on the McCall resignation.
--Reuters contributed to this report.
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