15 JUNE 1996, Page 27

Exchange and mart

THE HEADHUNTERS had their work cut out to find the Stock Exchange a chief exec- utive. It had fired the last one, and the one before, and I know of two possible candi- dates who, on being sounded out, ran a mile and kept their heads. So I wish Gavin Casey luck, and urge him to get his job specification right. He is not there to pre- side over a great (if faded) public institu- tion, or to double as a regulator, or to enforce codes for telling businesses how they should be run. He will have enough to do in running his own business in the increasingly competitive market for exchanging stock. As soon as he can he should float it — naturally, on itself. For a start, he should pull down its otiose tower.