Speaker Biography

Mark Weldon

 

Chief Executive Officer,

New Zealand Exchange Limited

 

Professional

Mark has been CEO of NZX since June 2002.  In that time he has led it through its transformation from a mutual to a listed company, changed the exchange’s overall approach both domestically and internationally, and brought home the relevance of capital markets to New Zealand.

Domestically, NZX is currently focused on developing infrastructure to enable exchange-traded futures, options, and commodities to be traded on NZX markets.

Recent international developments for NZX include AXE ECN and TZ1.  AXE ECN, a joint venture with five investment banks, is a business that will inject competition into the Australian market.  TZ1, recently appointed as a global VCS registry, aims to facilitate transparent environmental commodities markets to reduce goals carbon emissions.

Prior to returning to New Zealand, Mark spent nine years in New York, where he worked first as a mergers and acquisitions attorney with a leading law firm Skadden, Arps, and subsequently for McKinsey & Company. 

Academic

Mark has a Juris Doctorate degree from Columbia University, New York, a Diploma in International Law (Honours) also from Columbia, a Masters degree (1^st Class Honours) in Economics, and Bachelor degrees in Commerce and Arts from the University of Auckland.

Sport

Mark was also an Olympic swimmer, having competed for New Zealand at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, and the Commonwealth Games.