NYSE Expects Grasso to Return Part of Pay

New York Stock Exchange Chief Executive John A. Thain said Monday that the Big Board expected former Chairman Richard Grasso to return a “very substantial” part of his multimillion-dollar pay package.

Thain also said in an interview that he was trying to restore investor confidence in the NYSE by removing some limits on electronic trading and listening to listed companies that have complained about flaws in the trading of their stocks.

Calling Grasso’s compensation “excessive,” Thain said he wanted to put the pay issue behind the exchange as soon as possible. Grasso resigned under pressure in September after it was revealed that he was awarded $140 million in deferred salary and benefits.

Thain, the former president of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. who took the NYSE job on Jan. 15, said New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer and the Securities and Exchange Commission are deciding whether to proceed with claims against Grasso.