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After being introduced as someone who has been able to anticipate the future, Niederauer cracked, "Nothing could prepare me for this. The job is a handful and then some." And, referring to the current state of the market, he added, "As much as I'd like to say I prepare for the future, I would have never predicted this."
Niederauer also joked about NYSE Euronext being the only company in history that waited 214 years to go public. And, on a more serious note, he discussed the challenges of transitioning from a not-for-profit, member-owned company to a for-profit, public company —all while still serving as a public utility.
Niederauer touted the NYSE for making two "transformational" acquisitions — Euronext and the American Stock Exchange — in just two years of being public, as well as for acquiring a number of smaller companies. According to Niederauer, NYSE Euronext now lists 4,500 companies with $20 trillion in global capital and represents one-third of the world's cash equities trading and 98 percent of the ETF market. He also noted that Euronext is about the same size as the London Stock Exchange in European cash equity trading volume.
NYSE Euronext, Niederauer added, also is rapidly expanding abroad with several recent deals to develop technology with exchanges in Tokyo, the Philippines and Malaysia. Noting, "I'm there every eight to 12 weeks," Niederauer said that China also is a major area of focus for NYSE Euronext.
One of the projects he is working on is getting the NYSE Euronext's A shares listed on the Shanghai Exchange. The driver? Many clients are asking about how to list on the Shanghai Exchange so, Niederauer said, his philosophy is, "We should be the first to try it out. We'll learn the hard way and explain it to clients." In addition, the move would give the NYSE Euronext brand more exposure in China and help it become better known in the region, he said, adding that it sends a message that NYSE Euronext plans to be there for the long term.
Niederauer also provided some insight into his management style. "It's OK to try some things that don't work," he said, explaining that he'd rather his employees were innovative rather than fearful of failure. He even insisted that he's open to giving people a "free pass" if a new idea fails.
The CEO of NYSE Euronext again joked about his idea to approach the CME about buying the CBOT's gold and silver futures contracts. He said he ran the idea past 20 of his good friends and colleagues, only to have 18 of them advise him not to proceed. (This only assured him that he was making the right decision, he quipped.) And proceed he did. Now, Niederauer noted, the exchange is very close to having a license to trade U.S. futures, pending CFTC approval, whereas four months ago the exchange had nothing in this space. "It's OK if it fails," he said. "Of course, I'd rather it not fail." More important, he continued, he wanted to see how nimble the organization could be.
"I wanted to see if we could move quickly once told we could move ahead. One week later we executed," Niederauer said. "We're not watching from the cheap seats any more — we're playing in the game."
