THE SOUTH African Futures Exchange’s (Safex) chief executive, Stuart Rees, will resign at the end of March this year. Rees declined to give a reason for the resignation and did not say what his plans are. Rees chaired the initial working committee that founded Safex in 1988 and has been the exchange’s CE since then. The surprise resignation comes months ahead of the planned merger of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Bond Exchange of South Africa, and Safex. Rees indicated that he fully supported the merger and will play a role in appointing his successor.