Leibler Named Amex President

After a lengthy search with the aid of an executive headhunting firm, the American Stock Exchange said Wednesday that it has filled the eight-month vacancy in its presidency--by promoting from within.

The Amex’s new president is Kenneth R. Leibler, 36, who was previously the exchange’s senior executive vice president for marketing, operations and finance. He succeeds Robert Birnbaum, who left last year to become president of the New York Stock Exchange.

Although Wall Street talk had it that the smaller exchange was seeking a president who would reflect the politically astute, well-connected image set by its chairman, Arthur Levitt, the Amex made much Wednesday of Leibler’s youth and his 10 years in the exchange’s management. Leibler is the youngest president of a stock exchange anywhere, the Amex said.

The new president faces the responsibility of shoring up the Amex’s equity business and expanding its position as a leading floor for stock options. Although Amex stock volumes set records in 1985, it is still caught in a squeeze between the giant New York Stock Exchange and the over-the-counter market, which has siphoned off many of the smaller, speculative issues from the Amex.

In an interview, Leibler argued that the Amex still offers a superior market for the “mid-range growth company.”

He said the Amex will stress the development of new technology to make itself even more inviting and will press for more two-way trading links with foreign exchanges, like one it completed last year with the Toronto Stock Exchange. “We’re trying to license a European options exchange to trade our options products, such as our major market index,” he said.