>>Instinet Group, the electronic trading network operator, said president and CEO Douglas Atkin is resigning after 18 years with the company… CFO Mark Nienstedt, 51, will step in as acting president and chief executive…
“I have enjoyed immensely my time at Instinet but I want to move on and focus on other interests, including my board position at ClickIQ Inc.,” said 38-year-old Atkin in a statement… “I applaud the entire Instinet team for developing the company from a small up-start into its leadership position in the global brokerage and ECN business.”
Atkin made $2 million in FY 2000, despite a sagging share price in the face of increased competition… Nienstedt, who will keep his duties as finance chief, made nearly $1.2 million the same year…
The company also named Jean-Marc Bouhelier as operating chief… Bouhelier serving right now as VP in charge of U.S. institutional and professional business… Company says current COO Kenneth Marshall “has decided to use this opportunity to retire.” Not exactly clear what “opportunity” company is referring to…
Instinet is 83 percent owned by news company Reuters… In response to the management shake-up, Reuters chief Tom Glocer said in a statement, “My colleagues and I are working closely with Instinet in its drive to maximize the value of its franchise and improve its operating performance. We have confidence in Instinet’s future and fully support the management team. Doug Atkin has made a great contribution to the growth of Instinet over the past 18 years and we wish him well.”
>>Gift-and-collectibles company Department 56 promoted Timothy Schugel to the top finance post… Former SVP of sourcing management and production control replaces Tom Tomlinson, who resigned last month to head up finance at a private medical diagnostics equipment maker… Chief accounting officer Gregg Peters had been handling finance operations in the interim…
Schugel joined Department 56 in 1993 as controller… He was responsible for investor communications and the entire finance area as VP of finance before shifting focus to product sourcing and inbound logistics in 1999… In new post, Schugel will take on the additional responsibilities of finance, treasury, investor relations, and distribution operations…
As CFO.com reported, Tomlinson resigned his CFO post on March 19… Last month, Arthur Andersen paid $11 million to Department 56 to settle lawsuit alleging that the consulting firm gave it poor advice on an upgrade to a computer systems project… $11 million bit of a comedown from the $6 billion company was seeking…
>>Tricord Systems announced CFO Steve Opdahl has resigned… CEO Keith Thornkyke will take over finance responsibilities for time being… No successor to be named for now… Tricord, whose stock currently trades around 40 cents per share, makes server software…