Wayne Pestone, formerly an attorney with Bingham McCutchen, joined the Boston Options Exchange as chief legal officer. He will spearhead the exchange’s efforts to win self-regulatory organization status as a national securities exchange. BOX is targeting the fourth quarter of 2009 for approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Pestone is BOX’s longtime advisor. At Bingham McCutchen, he provided counsel to exchanges regarding market regulation, surveillance and compliance for both equity and options trading. He represented BOX since its inception, BOX said, most notably during its SEC approval process in 2003.
Pestone served at the SEC from 1992 to 1999, as special counsel with the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations’ SRO Inspection Group. He conducted regulatory oversight inspections of U.S. equity and options exchanges, and also focused on trading by broker-dealers.
BOX, majority-owned by Montreal Exchange Inc., is regulated by the Boston Stock Exchange, which is owned by Nasdaq OMX Group. Nasdaq operates two options exchanges. Will Easley, BOX’s chief executive, said in a statement that “securing an independent SRO designation will allow BOX to adapt even more quickly to market changes and capitalize on expanded opportunities for growth.”
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