Australia's ASX CEO Helen Lofthouse to step down in May
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Helen Lofthouse, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), speaks at the Citi Investment Conference in Sydney, Australia, October 14, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
By Roshan Thomas
Feb 10 (Reuters) - ASX said on Tuesday that Managing Director and Chief Executive Helen Lofthouse will step down in May, marking the end of an 11-year career at the Australian exchange operator.
Lofthouse, appointed as CEO in 2022, is resigning at a time when ASX is preparing to deliver the first phase of its long-delayed CHESS project, which is scheduled to launch in April.
The exchange operator did not give a specific reason for her departure.
ASX uses the Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS) to clear, settle, and record ownership of shares. The system will replace the core post‑trade infrastructure.
First designed as a blockchain-based overhaul, the project was abandoned in 2022 after years of delays and cost overruns. ASX has since reset it and is rolling it out in phases.
Chair David Clarke said Lofthouse took charge of ASX at a challenging time, halted the previous iteration of the CHESS project and oversaw increased investment in technology, delivery and risk management.
"The leadership transition now places renewed emphasis on delivery, operational resilience and rebuilding market confidence," said Marc Jocum, senior product and investment strategist at Global X ETFs.
With ASX set to report first-half results on Thursday, investors will focus on whether it offers guidance on the CEO succession plan, including the possibility of an external hire, Jocum added.
ASX has faced regulatory scrutiny in recent years following a series of operational issues, including a company name mix-up in August 2025 and an outage of its announcements platform in early December.
ASX, which was also hit with a A$150 million ($106 million) capital charge by the market regulator in December, said it has started a process to identify its next CEO.
In January, the exchange operator flagged a sharp increase in annual costs as it stepped up spending on technology and risk controls after a regulatory inquiry.
Shares of ASX ended 0.5% higher. The exchange operator announced Lofthouse's departure after market hours.
($1 = 1.4150 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Subhranshu Sahu and Sonia Cheema)
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