NZX CEO Tim Bennett said, "I'm excited by the opportunities across the range of businesses we're in, and by what those opportunities mean for our people, our customers and our markets.

"The time is right to build on the solid base that has been developed to ensure we're structured, skilled and resourced to deliver for our markets in this new phase of development."

The developments include:

Technology, operations and regulatory infrastructure for Fonterra's Trading Amongst Farmers Market
A broader suite of trading and risk management tools in equities and commodities markets
Expanding our agricultural information offering as more opportunities arise for investors in the sector
Extensive work on market quality and growth market initiatives

To support these new developments, a number of changes are being made to NZX's organisation:

The establishment of two new senior positions: a CFO and a Head of Cash Markets. The Cash Markets role will be based primarily in Auckland alongside NZX's Head of Derivatives.

The formation of a new Markets Services group, responsible for regulated market operations and customer service. The group's functions will include Issuer Services, Market Surveillance, Clearing Operations and Risk functions, Derivative Operations, Indices and Data Operations.

Head of Markets Services Simon Smith, who comes to the role from a background in Participant Compliance, Clearing and Finance, said, "In addition to having a strong customer focus, bringing together these critical functions in one team will enable us to identify where we need to make further investments in process improvement."

A more tightly focused Regulation team will be led by current Head of Market Supervision Robyn Dey. The team will be responsible for the critical roles of Issuer Regulation, Participant Compliance, Enforcement and Markets Policy Development. The role of Corporate Counsel, which has to date been part of the Market Supervision team, will ultimately report to the CFO.

Robyn Dey said, "We have decided to make the change in reporting lines to make the distinction between our regulatory and commercial roles more explicit. In turn, this will remove any perception of conflict between those roles."

NZX is also adding to the skill base in the Analytics, Technology, Derivatives and Energy Markets areas and, in co-operation with Fonterra, will shortly recruit across a range of markets-related disciplines to service Trading Amongst Farmers.

"The feedback I've received over the past few weeks highlights the need to improve our customer relationships, and invest further in our operations and market regulation.

"Our new structure responds to this feedback and positions us to focus of the next phase of development of New Zealand's markets," Bennett said.