Another High Profile Exit At NYSE

H. Carl McCall said Thursday he's resigning his seat on the New York Stock Exchange board.

McCall will leave the post Sept. 29, when he presents a report on corporate governance at the NYSE. The executive was serving as leader of the board since the resignation of former NYSE chief Dick Grasso on Sept. 17.

In an interview with CBS MarketWatch, McCall said: "I've done my job. I was able to participate in picking new leadership. I think it falls to John Reed to complete the reform process. I look forward to it."

McCall, a former comptroller for New York State and one-time Democratic gubernatorial nominee, also said he would act as an unofficial adviser to the NYSE board on governance issues.

Though he was relatively new to the post, McCall was criticized for leading a compensation committee that approved a $140 million lump sum payment to Grasso. Controversy over the pay package eventually led to Grasso's resignation as the NYSE's chairman and CEO.

McCall isn't leaving without giving some advice. In his resignation letter, McCall said he hoped for greater representation of the investing public on the NYSE board, an annual election and evaluations of directors.

He also suggested expand the governance committee to include representatives of the investing public, particularly representatives of the state treasurers and public pension funds that the board met with on Sept. 24.

On the sticky issue of compensation, McCall said executives should be paid based on "appropriate industry comparisons, benchmarks, performance measures and evaluation processes." The NYSE should also ensure that the human resources and compensation committee only consist of independent directors, he said.