FRANKFURT, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The European Energy Exchange (EEX) has appointed Tobias Paulun, currently head of the exchange's clearing house, as its new chief executive from August 1, EEX said on Thursday.
Paulun will take over from Peter Reitz, who has been EEX CEO for 15 years and who will remain on the supervisory boards of EEX subsidiaries Nodal and EPEX SPOT.
Paulun will step down from his job as CEO of EEX's clearing house European Commodity Clearing (ECC) on July 31, 2026, the exchange said in a statement.
The EEX, part of Deutsche Boerse, has become the world's top electricity derivatives platform with a presence in European countries, North America and Japan, whose power sector is set for a growth spurt.
In EEX's core European futures marketplaces, which typically trade two or three times their annual power consumption, the exchange has market shares of 80-90%.
"With him (Paulun), we will successfully continue the EEX's growth trajectory in the coming years," said Thomas Book, chairman of the EEX supervisory board.
Paulun said that under his leadership, the EEX Group would expand its global network of customers and partners.
"Together, we will continue to actively shape the development of the energy markets in order to offer our customers optimal trading opportunities and efficient solutions for their risk management," he said.
Since the 2008 financial crisis, over-the-counter customers in commodities have turned to regulated exchanges to comply with European Union financial rules and to save money on fees.
The ECC's role is to reduce counterparty risks and to guarantee the physical and financial execution of trades on the EEX, EPEX SPOT and partner exchanges.
The ECC has started looking for a replacement for its CEO, the EEX statement said.
(Reporting by Vera Eckert, Editing by Madeline Chambers and Jane Merriman)
