“In one of John Reed first acts as interim chief of the New York Stock Exchange, he is expected to seek the removal of Wall Street chief executives from the exchange’s board of directors, according to people familiar with the matter,” writes Susanne Craig in today’s Wall Street Journal.

“The move, while sure to diminish the powers of the Wall Street CEOs who currently control six of the NYSE’s 27 board seats, will come as welcome relief to some of them. The six chief executives are James Cayne of Bear Stearns Cos., Philip Purcell of Morgan Stanley, William Harrison of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Stan O’Neal of Merrill Lynch & Co., John Mack of Credit Suisse Group and Henry Paulson Jr. of Goldman Sachs Group. These CEOs have come under public fire in recent months for their role in setting pay at the Big Board — most notably the $187.5 million multiyear deferred-compensation package that led to the Sept. 17 departure of Dick Grasso as NYSE chief — even as the NYSE regulates these firms.”

“The idea of removing the Wall Street executives from the board comes from one of their own: It was floated a few weeks back by Mr. Paulson. He privately suggested that the board be divided into two groups — the representatives of the securities business that the Big Board regulates, and all others.”

“All this could add up to even more change for an embattled board. Over the weekend, DaimlerChrysler AG Chief Executive Jurgen Schrempp quit as an NYSE director, the second to step down after Mr. Grasso’s resignation. Mr. Schrempp didn’t attend the meeting at which directors voted 13 to 7 to oust Mr. Grasso, and has a poor attendance record overall, according to other directors. The NYSE declined to comment.”

“In a letter faxed to NYSE interim Chairman John Reed on Friday, Mr. Schrempp said it has become increasingly difficult for him to put in the time required as member of the board, a DaimlerChrysler spokesman confirmed. Many meetings in recent weeks were called on short notice and took place when it was late at night in Germany, the spokesman said. Mr. Grasso pushed directors to attend board meetings in person, a requirement with which Mr. Schrempp, the board’s only European member, couldn’t easily comply.”

“Mr. Schrempp’s resignation follows that of lead director H. Carl McCall, whose Thursday resignation takes effect at close of business Monday.”

“Also Friday, calls for the resignation of director Kenneth Langone mounted as giant labor group AFL-CIO, in a letter to Mr. Reed, asked for Mr. Langone’s immediate removal from all NYSE board committees.”