New York Stock Exchange members yesterday approved interim Chairman John Reed’s sweeping proposal to overhaul the exchange’s board and ruling structure.
Early results last night showed the members, who have had the opportunity to vote since Nov. 4, voted to elect eight members to a board of directors, including two carryovers from the previous board.
The new structure is intended to prevent conflicts of interest within the exchange – issues that led to former Big Board chief Dick Grasso being awarded a pay package of almost $190 million by a board of members he was charged with regulating.
Reed’s plan scraps the old 27-member board and replaces it with a two-tiered structure. The board of directors will include eight to 12 members who have a fiduciary responsibility to supervise regulation, governance, compensation and internal controls.
That board will nominate an advisory board made up of different constituencies of the exchange who will vet and make recommendations on marketplace operations, membership issues, listed-company issues and market structure.