Chicago-based CME Group Inc. said Monday that Chief Executive Craig Donohue is stepping down when his contract expires at the end of the year. He will be replaced by Phupinder Gill, now the company’s president.
Donohue, 50, said his decision was not related to the criticism the company has had to fend off since MF Global Inc.’s parent filed for bankruptcy protection in October and announced a shortfall in customer segregated accounts. As the lead auditor of the firm, CME Group has found itself on the defensive, trying to restore confidence to the futures market.
That deficit is now estimated at $1.6 billion. The shortfall began on Oct. 26, a day before CME Group, sent auditors to MF Global’s Chicago offices. In February, CME Group said it had received two subpoenas seeking information and witnesses from authorities investigating the collapse of the firm.
“These are just two things that coincide but they are not related to each other. I can’t control the timing of that but this is the right decision for me, but not in any way related to MF Global,” Donohue, who has been the company’s chief executive since 2004, said in a call to investors Monday.
CME’s board members expanded the role of Terrence Duffy to executive chairman and president. He will oversee government relations, corporate marketing and communications. Gill will report to Duffy.
CME Group owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade.
