Appointment: The LSE Group has named Michel-Alain Proch as its next chief financial officer
The London Stock Exchange Group has named Michel-Alain Proch as its next chief financial officer.
Proch currently holds the same position at Publicis Groupe, one of the ‘Big Four’ advertising agencies and Saatchi & Saatchi’s former owner.
Before that, the Frenchman was finance boss at fintech provider Ingenico Group and IT services business Atos, where he was also chief executive of its North American division and head digital officer.
He will replace Anna Manz, who announced her intention to stand down in May after three years in the job. She will become the next CFO of confectionery giant Nestlé.
LSE Group said Proch would relocate from Paris to London and receive an £850,000 annual starting salary, as well as bonuses.
David Schwimmer, the company’s chief executive, said: ‘[Proch’s] deep experience across global, financial infrastructure and IT data solutions firms will be invaluable as we deliver against the next stage of our strategic growth.
Proch added: ‘It is an exciting time to be joining LSEG as the group continues its transformation as a leading global financial markets infrastructure and data provider.
‘I look forward to working with David and the entire team to deliver against our strategy and achieve further value for stakeholders.’
His appointment follows just a few days after LSE Group pledged £1billion of share buybacks in 2023 due to ‘strong cash generation’.
In addition, it said revenue growth was expected to be towards the top end of its 6 to 8 per cent guidance range this year.
The forecast coincided with the FTSE 100 firm hosting a two-day investor event where it set out plans to expand in the coming years through its partnership with Microsoft.
LSE Group struck a transformational decade-long deal with the software giant in December 2022.
Under the arrangement, the company will spend at least £2.3billion on Microsoft’s data analytics and cloud-related technology.
In return, Microsoft has taken a 4 per cent stake in LSE Group from a consortium of investors, including asset management firm Blackstone, Thomson Reuters and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.
When the deal was initially unveiled, Schwimmer called it ‘a significant milestone on LSEG’s journey towards becoming the leading global financial markets infrastructure and data business, and will transform the experience for our customers.’
London Stock Exchange shares were 0.3 per cent up at £85.76 on early Monday afternoon.
