London & Kansas City - BATS Chi-X Europe has announced that Chief Operating Officer Paul O'Donnell will depart the firm at the end of the summer for personal reasons.

Mr. O'Donnell will return to Morgan Stanley as a managing director in the New York City area, where he worked for 14 years prior to joining BATS in April 2008 as chief operating officer and one of the founding employees of the BATS Europe multilateral trading facility (MTF).

"Paul has made a tremendous contribution to BATS over the last four years and was a key figure in several market structure developments that helped to make the European equities market more competitive and efficient. We wish Paul and his family all the best when they return to New York and we look forward to continuing to work with him as a customer in the future," said Mark Hemsley, chief executive officer of BATS Chi-X Europe.

Mr. O'Donnell said: "After an exciting four years with BATS Europe, my family and I have decided it is time for us to return to New York. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with BATS and I am proud of what we have achieved. It has been a privilege to work with a tremendous team and I look forward to new challenges at Morgan Stanley."

Mr O'Donnell's team will begin reporting directly to Mr. Hemsley by the end of the summer.