Mr Grasso stepped down as NYSE chairman on Wednesday

Laurence Fink, the chairman of investment management firm BlackRock Inc, was given the job of recruiting a new NYSE chairman at a meeting of the exchange's board on Friday, the Reuters news agency reported.

Mr Grasso resigned late on Wednesday after increasing controversy over his $140m pay package and criticism from key pension funds.

Attempts to find a swift replacement for Mr Grasso have foundered, with top Silicon Valley lawyer Larry Sonsini, TIAA-CREF mutual fund boss Herbert Allison Jr, and former US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin all ruling themselves out of the job.

The NYSE is also weighing up a host of structural changes following criticism that its members - whom the exchange is supposed to regulate - may have too much influence over the pay of its top executives.

Overhaul

"It has to be fixed. There is obviously something wrong," said David E. Robbins, a former director of compliance for the American Stock Exchange.

"It's not just the payment to the chairman and the CEO. It's the way they regulate themselves and serve their members."

Measures under consideration include splitting the NYSE's chief executive and chairman's roles, and ditching its regulatory role altogether.

Some Wall Street executives have also proposed barring securities firms that are listed on the exchange from taking seats on the NYSE board, Reuters reported.

There has also been speculation that other members of the NYSE board may step down.

The NYSE's day to day operations will be run by its joint chief operating officers, Robert Britz and Catherine Kinney, until Mr Grasso's successor is appointed.