The former chief executive of the Irish Stock Exchange, Tom Healy, has been appointed director general of the Abu Dhabi Securities Market.

Mr Healy (57), who headed the Irish Stock Exchange for 20 years until retiring in June of this year, took up his new post last Saturday. He was replaced at the Dublin exchange by Deirdre Somers, formerly director of listing.

His Excellency Naser Ahmad al-Suwaid, chairman of the Abu Dhabi exchange, said Mr Healy's appointment was part of the exchange's strategy to build up its management team to further develop and grow the market and build on its leading position in the region.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Market was established at the end of 2000 to trade shares of companies based in the United Arab Emirates.

It has trading locations in Abu Dhabi, al Ain, Fujeirah, Sharjah, and Ras al Khaimah.

The exchange has grown from 15 listed companies in 2001, to 60 at the end of 2006.

However, last year the value of trading on the index fell 33 per cent, according to the Abu Dhabi exchange's annual report.

The index itself declined in overall value last year, dropping 42 per cent, compared with a 24 per cent gain in the Iseq index of Irish shares.

Aside from his role at the Irish Stock Exchange, Mr Healy has worked as a consultant, particularly on capital markets, for groups including the World Bank, the European Union and the United States Agency for International Development.

At the Dublin stock exchange, Mr Healy was credited with the development of the funds and specialist debt-listing businesses, which have become a core and highly profitable activity for the exchange.

He was also credited with successfully leading the demerger of the Irish Stock Exchange from the London Stock Exchange in 1995.