Knight brokerage exec leaves a year after trading meltdown

NEW YORK -- Thomas Joyce, the longtime head of Knight Capital Group, has resigned almost a year after the major Wall Street brokerage suffered a near-fatal trading glitch.

Joyce, who became president and chief executive of what was then Knight Trading Group in 2002, stepped down as executive chairman effectively immediately, KCG Holdings Inc. said in a statement Wednesday.

KCG Holdings was formed by the merger of Knight Capital in Jersey City, N.J., and GETCO Holding Co. of Chicago.

The merger, which was completed Monday, came in the wake of a computer error that that cost Knight $440 million in August 2012.

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The glitch sent a slew of errant trades into the stock market, briefly causing chaos on Wall Street and renewing calls for tougher restrictions on high-speed trading. Knight had to secure a $400-million lifeline from private-equity firms and other brokerages just to stay alive.

“Tom Joyce has always put clients first. His focus on client service continues to influence every aspect of our new organization,” Daniel Coleman, chief executive of KCG, said in a statement. “Tom played an important role in the creation of KCG and we thank him for his leadership.”

Stephen Schuler, a co-founder of GETCO, was appointed a non-executive chairman of the company’s board.

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