New TMX CEO shuffles executives, seeks sales administrator

TORONTO (Reuters) - TMX Group Ltd (Toronto:X.TO - News) is looking to hire a sales chief as part of a reorganization initiated by recently hired Chief Executive Officer Lou Eccleston.

The operator of Canada's biggest stock exchange said on Tuesday that the new executive will focus on commercial strategy and client experience to help fend off competition from rivals, pitch products to investors and attract new stock issues.

In other moves, TMX said the head of its Canadian Depository for Securities unit, Jean Desgagne, will add operations, technology, transaction services and procurement to his expanded brief as head of global enterprise services.

The head of information technology, Brenda Hoffman, will leave by the end of July.

The changes are the result of a six-month review of operations launched by Eccleston late last year.

TMX, which runs the Toronto Stock Exchange and smaller exchanges, as well as clearing and depositary services, also said it wants to improve capital raising, create more derivative products and sell more powerful data.

The exchange operator is home to many resource-based issuers and has had to cope with a sharp decline in commodity prices.

It also faces competition from the new Aequitas Neo Exchange, which has forced TMX to match features such as a secondary market for private companies and to lower fees.

(Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Andre Grenon)