BofA's Kannan leads race for BSE CEO

Madhu Kannan, managing director (corporate strategy), Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, has emerged as the frontrunner for the chief executive officer (CEO) of Asia’s oldest bourse, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

A source close to the development said Kannan’s name will be announced after the BSE board meeting, which is scheduled to be held on April 9. This comes eight months after Rajnikant Patel quit as the CEO of the exchange in August without giving any reason.

Kannan was vice-president (international) of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), before joining Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in December 2007. A BSE spokesperson declined to comment on the development.

In January, Egon Zehnder was appointed to shortlist candidates for the top post at BSE. Four names were identified: Kannan, National Stock Exchange Chief Technology Officer Ravi Apte, Relaince Industries Chief Information Officer Ashish Chauhan and the current chief operating officer and acting chief executive officer of BSE, M L Soneji.

The source said that Apte was another strong contender for the position because of the work he had done in improving the situation at the American Stock Exchange as its chief technology officer after the 9/11 terror attacks.