Nasdaq appoints Tom Wittman to head its U.S. stock market

Nasdaq OMX Group has appointed Tom Wittman to head the No. 2 U.S. stock market as part of a broader management shift aimed at better aligning its products across the equities, options and futures asset classes.

Wittman, whose new role was announced in a memo to Nasdaq clients, will manage all of the exchange operator's products and pricing for U.S. equities and derivatives, the company said on Wednesday.

Wittman, who will report to Eric Noll, Nasdaq's head of U.S. and UK transaction services, takes on the duties of Brad Vopni, who was responsible for the Nasdaq, Nasdaq OMX BX, and the Nasdaq OMX PSX stock markets. Vopni left the company.

Nasdaq announced in April it would buy electronic Treasuries-trading platform eSpeed for $750 million as part of the company's strategy to expand in asset classes beyond stock trading, where volumes have been depressed for years.

Wittman became president of Nasdaq OMX PHLX in 2008 after Nasdaq bought the Philadelphia Stock Exchange where Wittman led the options exchange's technology efforts.

Wittman's appointment was reported earlier on Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal.

(Reporting by John McCrank; Editing by Kenneth Barry)