Nasdaq elevates CLO to vice chairman; deputy succeeds him

Nasdaq Inc. has promoted Executive Vice President (and top lawyer) Edward Knight to Vice Chairman, effective October 1. The exchange says that Knight will continue to manage global government relations and will serve as a senior advisor on public policy and litigation. Serving as chief legal officer in his place will be John Zecca, a company veteran.

Zecca’s career spans market regulation, corporate law, corporate governance, and market structure. He most recently served as Nasdaq’s general counsel for North America and chief regulatory officer, responsible for Nasdaq’s corporate law, intellectual property and regulatory teams that maintain fair, orderly markets and protect investors. Prior to joining Nasdaq in 2001, Zecca (in the photo above) served as legal counsel to a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and practiced corporate securities law at both Hogan Lovells and Kaye Scholer. Zecca received his Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University and his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

“John is a seasoned legal and regulatory leader with outstanding judgment who has demonstrated expertise across all areas of our business,” stated Friedman. “His legal expertise, management strength, and business acumen will be instrumental as we continue our organizational transformation as a global technology company for the capital markets. ”

As for Knight, “Ed took Nasdaq’s legal team from a handful of securities lawyers and built it into a global team of regulatory experts and technologists, responsible for surveilling and protecting dozens of markets, millions of investors, and billions of trades, all over the world,” said Adena Friedman, President and CEO, Nasdaq.

Nasdaq says that Knight and Zecca have worked alongside each other at Nasdaq for 18 years and most recently worked together on two major market reform initiatives.