By Gus Trompiz
PARIS (Reuters) - Nicholas Kennedy, Euronext's head of commodities for the past six years, is to leave the European exchange, Euronext said on Tuesday.
Kennedy will be succeeded by Robin Maisonneuve, who will take up the role of head of agricultural commodities on April 1 after joining Euronext last year as chief of staff to the CEO and head of special projects, Euronext said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Kennedy took charge of Euronext's commodity business, whose flagship product is its wheat futures contract, in late 2017 having already spent several years at the division.
"Nicholas Kennedy decided to leave Euronext to pursue other professional projects," Euronext said, without giving further details on his departure.
Kennedy declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. An automatic response from his Euronext email stated that he was leaving the company and had been on "gardening leave" since Feb. 21.
Market participants noted that Maisonneuve was coming in without specific commodities experience.
Before joining Euronext, Maisonneuve was a consultant and manager at McKinsey & Company and also worked at artificial intelligence startup Preligens, Euronext said.
Euronext's main commodity products are its wheat, rapeseed and maize (corn) futures contracts.
Kennedy oversaw the launch of cash-settled futures for durum wheat two years ago, though like other new commodity contracts it has struggled to attract participants.
He also studied expanding Euronext's contracts into the Black Sea region, an increasingly important production and export zone for the global grain market.
Euronext has looked at adding Romania as a physical delivery zone for its maize futures, Kennedy told Reuters last year. He had also worked on a Ukrainian wheat contract with Argus Media but those plans were stymied by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.