Bats chiefs take top spots after Chi-X takeover

LONDON Dec 14 (Reuters) - Bats Europe former top management have claimed all but two of the top jobs in the newly formed Bats Chi-X Europe, created by Bats Global Markets' takeover of rival exchange Chi-X completed two weeks ago.

Mark Hemsley, the former chief executive of Bats Europe, has the top job at Bats Chi-X Europe and Paul O'Donnell remains his number two, having formerly served as the chief operating officer at Bats Europe.

Michael Beaver has been appointed the chief financial officer at Bats Chi-X Europe from the same role at Bats Europe, the newly merged firm said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

Jerry Avenell and Graham Dick, who were in sales at Chi-X Europe, are the two executives from that firm to have senior roles in the new entity, where they are respectively co-head of sales and head of index and derivatives products.

Hemsley said of the new management: "These individuals have been an instrumental part of both organisations' success in Europe and I believe this is the ideal team to take us forward."

Bats also said on Wednesday it will complete its technology migration, which it will outline before the end of this year, in the second quarter of 2012.

Chi-X Europe Chief Executive Alasdair Haynes and its head of finance Kevin O'Keefe have left the organisation, a source close to the firm said. The company declined to comment on the departures.

Former head of regulation Denzil Jenkins joined the London Stock Exchange in September.

Bats Europe's owner Bats Global Markets, which has bought Chi-X partly to boost its European franchise ahead of an initial public offering, completed the $300 million takeover on November 30.

Chi-X and Bats, which together have about a quarter of European share trading on their systems, are among the most successful of a new breed of trading venues that has emerged in the past four years.

These platforms have challenged the region's top exchanges, including the London Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse, with faster and cheaper trading services.

Europe's top share trading banks have welcomed the merger because they see the formation of a strong, commercially viable rival to the exchanges, which should ensure fees are kept to a minimum.

The merger of Chi-X Europe, the top pan-European market with 20.1 percent, and Bats Europe, which has 4.8 percent, would create the largest share-trading venue in Europe, narrowly beating the LSE, Thomson Reuters data shows.