Xavier Rolet Falls On His Sword

The Telegraph reports that outgoing London Stock Exchange chief executive Xavier Rolet is to step down “with immediate effect” after a furious row between the company’s board and one of its shareholders over his departure.

Mr Rolet had been due to remain in his job until December 2018 but today said he had agreed to leave straight away, just one day after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney indicated that he did not back calls by one of the LSE’s biggest investors for him to stay on until 2021.

"We can’t envisage a situation where a CEO stays beyond the agreed period," Mr Carney said at a conference on yesterday, adding that he was “mystified” by the row.

The news follows weeks of acrimony between the board and Sir Christopher Hohn, founder of the Children’s Investment Fund (TCI), who accused the LSE’s chairman Donald Brydon of forcing Mr Rolet out against his will.

Mr Rolet said he was leaving amid “a great deal of unwelcome publicity” and would not be returning to the board or the job “under any circumstances”.

I will leave the final word to Francis Urquhart:

"Even the longest, the most glittering reign must come to an end someday."