BATS strips Ratterman of chairman role
BATS Global Markets has stripped chief executive Joe Ratterman of the chairman’s role, days after the third-largest US exchange operator’s botched initial public offering (IPO).
The board, however, said it unanimously supported Ratterman as president and chief executive of the company and cited better corporate governance as the reason for splitting the CEO and chairman roles. Ratterman, a founding employee of BATS, has led the company since June 2007. He will hold the chairman’s position until a successor is found.
The decision comes after a series of glitches hit the market debut of BATS on its own exchange on Friday, causing the company to take the extremely rare step of withdrawing its IPO of shares. The aborted listing also threw into question BATS’ growth plans, including its bid to compete with NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq in the listings business and expand in Brazil and Canada.
Over the weekend, disagreement emerged between Ratterman and Dave Cummings, the founder and director of BATS, over plans for the exchange. Cummings called for the company to “develop a credible IPO plan” and “go public in the second quarter, if possible.” But Ratterman said there were no plans to try for another IPO in the foreseeable future.