Magnus Bocker has passed away

Magnus Bocker, who led the Singapore Exchange (SGX) from 2009 after the global financial crisis, has died from cancer in the United States. He was only 55 years old.

Mr Bocker, who ran private investment firm Blibros following his departure from the exchange, passed away in St Louis, Missouri in the United States on Wednesday local time, said Jonas Lindstrom, Mr Bocker’s partner at Blibros. Mr Lindstrom told the Business Times that Mr Bocker’s family had no comment.

According to a detailed obituary in Business Times, Mr Bocker, who was born in Sweden, made his name on the global stage as a savvy dealmaker who helped to create the Nordic exchange group OMX, then led its eventual merger with Nasdaq. After a short stint as president of Nasdaq, Mr Bocker was lured to Singapore in 2009 to take over SGX from outgoing CEO Hsieh Fu Hua.

Mr Bocker’s tenure at SGX was characterised by his goal to raise the exchange into a best-in-class platform in Asia, but also by his inability to replicate his dealmaking success in Singapore.

Most notably, Mr Bocker led an attempt to merge SGX with the ASX, the Australian stock exchange, in 2010. That merger had support of management teams on both sides and the Singapore government, but eventually fell to political opposition in Australia.

“A charismatic man with a quick wit, Mr Bocker made Singapore his home following his SGX appointment. Even after leaving the exchange, he continued to live in Singapore, where he ran his family’s investment office,” the Business Times ends it very informative obituary.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/top-stories/magnus-bocker-ex-sgx-ceo-dead-at-55

About Gregers Møller

Editor-in-Chief • ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. • Bangkok, Thailand

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