As the new Chief Operating Officer (COO), he is responsible for the area of Business & Market Development. In this function, he is in charge of Business Engineering, Issuer Relations, Marketing Communications and Member Relations.

Strong customer focus
"SIX Swiss Exchange is the leading exchange when it comes to creating market-oriented framework conditions for listing and trading", commented Urs Widmer. "I'm looking forward to maintaining a close dialogue with both our domestic and foreign customers, as well as realizing practical solutions that fulfil their exact needs."

Christian Katz, CEO SIX Swiss Exchange, added: "I'm very glad to welcome Urs Widmer with us. The organizational adjustment will allow us to further increase our business volume as well as our efficiency and profitability. I'd also like to thank Rolf Broekhuizen, who has successfully been leading Business & Market Development ad interim, for his outstanding efforts and achievements."

Successful career in finance
Urs Widmer has a university degree in Business Management and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau. He began his professional career at McKinsey & Company and then changed to UBS, where he was responsible for the Products & Services for Financial Intermediaries area and later the Financial Planning Life Insurance Sales department. Before joining SIX Swiss Exchange, Urs Widmer had been a member of the Executive Board at AXA Winterthur since 2007 and CEO of AXA Bank in Switzerland.