American Stock Exchange CEO Says He Will Step Down

Salvatore Sodano, the American Stock Exchange’s chairman and chief executive for the last four years, announced plans to retire Thursday, just 10 days after NASD Inc. sold the exchange back to its members.

The fate of Sodano has long been the subject of speculation. In November, Sodano was one of four executives who received notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it might bring civil charges for regulatory lapses.

Sodano, 48, who became Amex chief in September 1999, agreed to stay on the job until the exchange makes other arrangements. A spokesman for the exchange said Sodano, a former NASD executive, was not available for comment.

Sodano stands to receive a compensation package worth at least $22 million now that the transfer of the exchange is complete, according to an internal Amex document.

The announcement caps a tumultuous period for the struggling New York-based floor exchange, which the NASD, formerly known as the National Assn. of Securities Dealers, acquired in 1998 and put on the block soon afterward. Amex trading volumes have suffered from recent stock market declines and the shift of trading toward electronic markets.

The Amex spokesman said the board had not asked Sodano to step down.