Stock Exchange Taps New Chief

Moving quickly after federal regulators approved an overhaul plan, the New York Stock Exchange named Goldman Sachs investment firm president John Thain as its new chief executive.

The announcement Thursday came only a day after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the NYSE's proposal to overhaul its governing structure.

Thain, 48, will succeed interim chairman and CEO John Reed, who has held those positions since the September ouster of Dick Grasso amid a furor over the size of his pay package.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Reed as saying that Thain will be paid "a plain vanilla number" - $4 million a year, including bonuses.

Thain's appointment comes at a difficult time for the Big Board, which has been awash in scandal over outsized compensation for its top executives as well as its system involving specialist traders.

The Washington Post reported that Thain was seen as a long shot for the post because he has criticized the NYSE's floor-based trading system.

The Goldman executive is regarded as a technocrat and has had a major hand in the investment bank's investments in electronic-trading platforms.

On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the most sweeping reforms in the 211-year history of the NYSE.

The controversial reforms, which include a reconstituted board and new corporate governance measures aimed at eliminating conflicts of interest, come after nearly nine months of intense debate and scandal

Reed will resign as interim CEO but will stay on as interim chairman while the search continues for a permanent chairman of the NYSE.