Chi-X Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of alternative trading venue operator Chi-X Global, has announced that Peter Fowler will step down as chief executive in early 2013.

He will, however, continue in his role as a director on the board of Chi-X Australia.

Chi-X Global is currently undertaking a global search and evaluation process for a successor, who is expected to be in place before Fowler’s (pictured) departure.

“On behalf of the board and everyone at Chi-X Global, I would like to thank Peter for his myriad contributions over the past five years, as his leadership, knowledge and tenacity have proved invaluable as we’ve built the business. We are fortunate to have an extremely strong leadership team already in place in Australia, but are nonetheless pleased that Peter will continue to have a role within the firm to ensure a smooth transition and a continued customer focus,” says Tal Cohen, chief executive of Chi-X Global.

Fowler says: “First and foremost, I want to thank Chi-X’s market participants for their support in this startup phase. Having had the challenge and honour of getting Chi-X up and running in Australia, I feel now is the right time to step down.

“Chi-X has made good progress in its first 12 months of operation and I’m confident it will continue to have an increasingly valuable role to play in Australian financial markets.

“Chi-X’s arrival has been good for the Australian market and resulted in better market infrastructure for all trading participants. The frictional cost of trading has been lowered, price improvement opportunities are now presenting themselves to all investors and a more robust infrastructure and regulatory regime is in place."