Niederauer to replace Thain as NYSE CEO

NEW YORK (Reuters) - NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) named Duncan Niederauer as its new chief executive, after former CEO John Thain agreed to take the top job at Merrill Lynch & Co MER.N.

Niederauer, 48, joined the exchange as president and co-chief operating officer from Goldman Sachs (GS.N) in April.

Niederauer, who spent 22 years at Goldman, was responsible for the exchange's U.S. floor trading and electronic trading business.

"We have a well-defined business strategy in place, and I look forward to continuing to work with our global team and our customers in the years ahead," Niederauer said in a statement.

Niederauer's appointment is subject to the approval of the European College of Regulators, as per NYSE Group's merger agreement with European exchanges operator Euronext NV.

(Reporting by Anupreeta Das, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)